


Tea Time

by MalSpinningYarns



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Coming Out, Discussions of Homophobia, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Spoilers, Multi, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, all relationships aren't central to the story, only non-compliant in the fact that Percy is married to Oliver, the weasley family - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-10-26 18:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17751050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalSpinningYarns/pseuds/MalSpinningYarns
Summary: After the incidents of Cursed Child, Harry and Ginny think Albus could benefit from a mentor.  Because of the relationship with his own father, they think Percy is an ideal choice.A series of tea times between Percy Weasley and Albus Potter. (But first with Percy and Harry.)





	1. Earl Grey with Vanilla

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child back in NYC in October (and I enjoyed it) and as I was watching it, I was thinking how similar Harry and Albus's relationship was to Arthur and Percy's relationship. Then I got to thinking of how similar Percy and Albus are. I wanted to explore this more. This idea got stuck in my head of Percy becoming a cool uncle to Albus. 
> 
> As always, I do not own these characters. This has not been beta'd or Brit-picked, so any mistakes are my own.

“Mr. Weasley, Harry Potter is here to see you.”

 

Percy Weasley looked up from his parchment to see his assistant, Louisa Primm, standing at his door. She was smilingly brightly. To someone Louisa’s age, seeing Harry Potter was something extremely exciting. To Percy, it was just his brother-in-law who didn’t like special attention and was terrible at paperwork. Percy didn’t know why Harry was coming to see him. They didn’t have a meeting scheduled. However, as Head of the Department of Law Enforcement, it wasn’t entirely bizarre that Harry would need to speak to Percy, who was Head of the Department of Transportation. Their paths did cross. At the very least, Harry could have a paperwork-related question.

 

“Thank you Ms. Primm. You can let him in,” Percy said with a smile.

 

Within moments, Harry Potter was standing in Percy’s office.

 

“Wow, your office is so much cleaner than mine,” Harry said, looking around.

 

“You’ve never been one for cleanliness, I remember” Percy laughed, “What can I do for you, Harry?”

 

“I actually brought you tea,” Harry said, offering Percy the beverage, “It’s from the Muggle shop down the street. I figured we could both use a break. Oliver would probably have both of our heads if he knew we were overworking.”

 

Percy slightly raised his eyebrows. Harry rarely paid him a social visit, but maybe Hermione was busy doing Minister things. “Thank you, that’s very kind. Would you like to have a seat? I think I have some biscuits around here.”

 

Harry took a seat while Percy located the biscuit tin in his bottom desk drawer. When offered, Harry gladly took a biscuit. “You know, your sister is back on the ‘no sugar’ thing. It drives me absolutely mental some days. That’s why I keep a stash of chocolate in my office,” Harry said.

 

“I thought that was for the Dementors,” Percy said wryly.

 

“If Dementors were coming into my office, we have another whole set of problems.”

 

Percy took a sip of tea. “This is good. Is there vanilla in this?”

 

Harry nodded.

 

“Other than the sugar thing, how is Ginny?” Percy asked. “I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with her since the last Sunday dinner.”

 

“She’s good. Traveling around to report on Quidditch, you know it’s that time of year. I keep packing her meals so she isn’t eating fast food everywhere she goes. How’s Oliver?”

 

In their years of adulthood, Percy and Harry had bonded over two things: their mutual dislike for some of the old Ministry people who were bad at their jobs and having spouses in Quidditch. Percy was married to Oliver Wood, who went from star Keeper at Puddlemere to eventually Puddlemere coach. Even though Oliver played Quidditch much longer than the average player, he was an even more talented coach. His obsessiveness had toned down since school, but he still could be very competitive.

 

Percy sighed. “He’s Oliver. He’s practically taken over the library with plans for the upcoming Ballycastle game.”

 

“That’s going to be a tough one,” Harry said, “They’ve stepped their game up this year.”

 

“Oh, trust me, I’ve heard all about it,” Percy said, “I can’t wait for this game to be over. I love Quidditch as much as the next person, but if I never have to hear about Ballycastle Bats’ beater abilities ever again, I will die happy.”

 

“Are the twins keeping you sane at least?” Harry asked, referring to Percy and Oliver’s daughters, Molly and Lucy. “Are they handling their post-Hogwarts life well?”

 

“Molly is doing well at the Herbology Institute. She’s knee-deep in dirt and couldn’t be happier. She writes to us weekly.”

 

“I’m sure Neville will be happy to hear that,” Harry said laughing, “I think he misses his star pupil. He told me recently no one is excited about the new developments in Herbology he’s discussed in class and he just doesn’t get it. But no other student is as happy in the greenhouses than she was. She’s like a junior Sprout.”

 

“I think Neville needs to watch out for his job. Molly’s had eyes on that position for years,” Percy said.

 

“She can try,” Harry said, “And how’s Lucy?”

 

“I think Lucy is enjoying the conservatory more than Molly is enjoying the Herbology Institute. But she’ll have to choose a focus between her eleven instruments and her singing some day. She claims to be writing an epic concerto. And she’s formed a band.”

 

“That reminds me,” Harry said, “Al has expressed interest in learning the guitar- or maybe the bass. Do you think Lucy could help me find the right gift for Christmas? And possibly point me in the direction of a teacher for him during the holidays?”

 

“She would be absolutely ecstatic to help. She comes home from conservatory next week for holiday, but I can write to her soon to give her a heads up. Or I could give you her contact information?”

 

There was no doubt in Percy’s mind that Lucy would jump at the opportunity to help one of her cousins learn an instrument. And she absolutely adored Albus. As part of the half of this Weasley generation that wasn’t in Gryffindor, she felt a kinship with him, even if he was Slytherin and she was Ravenclaw. During the years at school she shared with Albus, she shared her frustration with Percy and Oliver when Albus ignored her and Molly in the halls when they greeted him. The Time Turner Incident last year- as most of the family had coined it- had been particularly stressful for the twins, as well as the rest of the family. Molly had been one of the Hufflepuff prefects, but Lucy had been Head Girl. She felt extremely guilty about what happened. Percy comforted her as she cried while they waited for the group to come back from Godric’s Hollow.

 

“That’s great! Thank you,” Harry said. Percy took a spare piece of parchment and jotted down Lucy’s address at the conservatory in Wales and handed it over to his brother-in-law.

 

“How are your kids?” Percy asked. As the only one without children still at Hogwarts-well, other than Charlie- Percy felt out of the loop sometimes this year. Both Freddy and Roxanne had sent him a few letters in the past few months, but it didn’t amount to much. Between Molly and Lucy, who are a deadly combination of nosy and observant, Percy and Oliver got _a lot_ of information about the goings-on at Hogwarts, whether they wanted that information or not. The girls usually kept their letter contents to friends and family only, but weird rumors got in there sometimes.

 

“Jamie is beginning to worry about NEWTs, but I’m certain he’ll do fine. He’s actually buckling down and studying instead of relying on his smarts for once. And he and Dominique are having some sort of spat over Head Boy and Girl duties that I absolutely can’t follow. Otherwise, he’s fine. He’s aiming for the Quidditch Cup this year, of course, after Molly and the rest of Hufflepuff beating them last year in the finals-“

 

“I’m immensely proud of her for that one. Even if she did beat Gryffindor,” Percy interjected.

 

Harry leaned in, “Don’t tell James or Lily this, but so am I. She’s an _excellent_ beater and was a fantastic captain. Granted, she’s played against some of her competitors since childhood, but she was better than James at identifying both her opponents’ and her team’s strengths and weaknesses. I mean, James is an absolutely brilliant Seeker, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t have Molly’s tactician skills. Hufflepuff _destroyed_ Slytherin last year more than Gryffindor did. Ginny agrees. She swears up and down that any team in the league would take Molly if she wanted it. Ginny has _heard_ many teams say it.”

 

“Oh, I know. We got letters from multiple teams. She and Oliver had long, private talks about working in the League and she ultimately decided she didn’t want that life. And we all accepted her decision.”

 

“That’s good. James is definitely thinking about it. There have been some recruiters already. He and Ginny have discussed it, but I think he should get Oliver’s input as well. I trust his instincts, even if he willingly played in a Dementor-filled pitch.”

 

“I’ll let him know,” Percy said, “And how are the younger two?”

 

“Lily is good. She says Quidditch is going well even if she ‘strongly disagrees’ with some of James’s ideas. She’s getting to that age where petty teenage drama is really starting to rear its ugly head. Ginny is already getting letters from her about it. All I know it has something to do with her dorm mates and that she doesn’t want me to know the details of. Thirteen is a _terrible_ age no matter who you are. I’m also scared of Lily starting to date soon. I can’t handle by baby starting to date. That means I’m old.” Harry laughed as he said it.

 

“She can handle herself,” Percy said. He knew that Lily had _a lot_ of Ginny’s spirit.

 

Harry laughed more. “ _I know_ and that’s what I’m scared of.”

 

“Thirteen is a little young for her to start dating. What is dating a thirteen, anyway? Holding hands in the corridor? I’d wait a few years before I’d really start worrying,” Percy said.

 

“I know, I know,” Harry said while running his hands through his hair, “Being a parent is tough though. You can damage a child permanently so easily.”

 

“Don’t worry. You’re doing fine so far,” Percy said, “How’s Albus?”

 

Harry shifted in his seat a bit. “He’s staying out of trouble this year. He’s actually joined a few clubs and is making new friends. His grades have gotten much better too. I think he’s gained confidence in his abilities since, well, you know. Our relationship is getting better, but it’s still difficult. I always feel like he’s hiding something from me. Even if it’s something small.”

 

“He’s a teenager. They won’t tell you everything,” Percy said, “Even Molly and Lucy- as open as they are- don’t tell us everything.”

 

Harry sighed. “I just want to make sure he’s doing all right. He’s been through a lot and I’m not sure how well he’s handling it. He sees a councilor and it seems to be helping, but I don’t know.”

 

“He’s been through a lot, Harry. You and I both know that problems don’t iron themselves out overnight,” Percy said softly.

 

Harry mussed his hair even more. “Actually, Ginny and I have been talking and we think he might benefit from have an adult to talk to, like a mentor? I know my mentors growing up helped me a lot and maybe Al would benefit from one too. Someone who isn’t part of our immediate circle, who would understand him and be a good example for him. Ginny thinks he’s scared of some things getting back to us or not being taken seriously. She thinks you might be a good fit because the two of you have some similar qualities and- of all the family- you might understand what he’s going through the most. And I’d have to agree. And I think you’re good at advice.”

 

Percy was silent for a moment. He was honestly surprised that someone in his family was willing to acknowledge his difficult relationship with his own father when he was only a little older than Albus’s age now. In the past twenty or so years, it had gotten swept under the rug. Honestly, he could understand Albus’s struggles. It wasn’t easy to be different from the rest of one’s family, never mind a family as famous as Albus’s. And while he loved Harry, Percy could acknowledge that Harry had problems expressing and acknowledging emotion.

 

“Of course I can speak with Albus,” Percy said, “With holidays coming up, I could invite him to tea at my house. Oliver and the girls might end up joining us, but they can behave themselves. For the most part.”

 

Harry smiled. “Brilliant. Thank you.”

 

“Can I ask you one thing?” Percy asked.

 

“Sure,” Harry shrugged.

 

“Please tell me you are being nicer to that Malfoy boy. The girls swear up and down he’s absolutely harmless. I’ve met him and he’s quite likeable.”

 

“I realize I may have overreacted about Scorp- wait, you’ve met him? When?”

 

“At the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor game last year. He just came up to Oliver and me while we were waiting for Lucy and began chatting excitedly about some of my flying transportation measures. It took me a moment to recognize him as Draco’s son because he’s _so_ unlike him.   I have never met anyone so enthused about anything I’ve done. I don’t think he even introduced himself until Albus and Lucy showed up. But he’s a sweet kid.”

 

Harry gave a hearty laugh. “That sounds like Scorpius. Don’t worry, I’ve gotten to know him a bit better in the past year and I like him. A bit odd at times, but he’s a good kid.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

Harry looked at his watch and groaned. “I’ve got a meeting with Higgins from International Trade in half an hour. I have to mentally prepare to deal with him.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me. I had meeting with him about imported flying carpets last week and I almost walked out in frustration. Good luck with him.”

 

“I’m going to need it,” Harry said, standing up, “Have fun _not_ working with the worst person in the Ministry.”

 

“Cheers,” Percy said lifting up his teacup.

 

“Thanks again! See you Sunday!” Harry called out as he left.

 

While he still had some tea left, Percy used that time to reflect on his conversation before going back to work.

 

Percy loved Harry like one of his own brothers, but he could acknowledge that parenting didn’t come naturally to him. He wasn’t a bad parent by any means- and he absolutely loved all his children-but he did have his struggles. Of course, he couldn’t be blamed for that. He really never had a good example. From what Percy heard of and knew, the Dursleys were horrid, abusive people. Percy had many conflicting views on Dumbledore. While Dumbledore probably cared for Harry, he did knowingly put Harry in harm’s way too many times and put him in the Dursleys’ care to begin with. Sirius Black encouraged too many dangerous behaviors. And was pretty unstable.

 

Harry and Albus had their issues. For years, Percy noticed Albus become more and more closed off. He had always been a quiet child, but Percy noticed him basically shrink inwards as he grew older. According to Molly and Lucy, Albus was bullied at Hogwarts. The girls tried to help, but most of his bullies were in Gryffindor and didn’t listen to them. Being “Harry Potter’s Slytherin child” could not have been easy. Never mind the fact that Harry gave his son the grand name _Albus Severus_. No kid could live up to that easily. Harry was popular in school, so he had problems understanding how to help Albus. He tried. Ginny told Percy how well _that_ went. However, Percy knew that Harry and Albus’s relationship had gotten better since the Time Turner Incident.

 

Percy’s own relationship with his father was difficult. Percy idolized his father as a child. His dad wasn’t really around much, so he was much more mythical than his mother. Arthur supported Percy’s desire to help people by going into the Ministry. As he grew older, Percy noticed that Arthur didn’t defend Percy against his siblings’ hurtful comments and jokes like Molly did. Arthur laughed them off until Molly demanded support. He tended to tell Percy that they didn’t mean to hurt him. He was just clueless as to how much the comments hurt Percy. Admittedly, he took himself seriously when he was younger, but only his mother was willingly to listen to what he was passionate about. All the little resentments Percy had built themselves up over time until they exploded at the infamous fight. It had been ugly. In adulthood, Percy could admit he had been naïve, but no one in his family had noticed the problems that were occurring during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Everyone had ignored the red flags. Percy didn’t know better, but his father should have. Why would the Minister of Magic let his 18 year-old assistant take over for him during the Tri-Wizard Tournament? Percy didn’t know it was unusual. Adults trusted him all the time during school. So, the inquest was a shock to him. Fudge defended him and gave him a second chance. Percy was indebted to him. Because of the inquest, he was the only one in the family who didn’t see the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He didn’t see the Dark Mark. It was becoming difficult to trust Dumbledore because so many dangerous things happened at Hogwarts. So he was indebted to Fudge, didn’t see Cedric Diggory’s death, and was having problems with Dumbledore. During the fight, Arthur was the angriest Percy had ever seen him. Arthur had said some hurtful things. Percy said some hurtful things too. Some things he meant, but others he didn’t. Percy was a hurt, naïve 19 year-old, so of course he left. And he was too prideful to admit his stupidity until it was almost too late. Percy could definitely understand Albus.

 

Percy knew his father loved him. It was just hard to show love to all your children equally when you had seven children. Arthur had apologized to Percy after the War and they worked on their relationship. Now, he got along with his father much better, even if his relationship with his mother was stronger.

 

As Percy became an adult, he promised to listen to his children and support them. He also decided to be more open emotionally. He was too bottled up as a teenager. A lot of people made fun of him when he expressed emotions growing up, so he tried to keep them inside. Percy decided that wasn’t working for him. When he and Oliver decided to have children, they read all the parenting books they could find. They were going to work as a team. They agreed to let Molly and Lucy wear what they want, within reason. They supported Molly’s decision to play Quidditch and Lucy’s decision to get into music. When their daughters had problems, they listened and supported them. When the girls had problems with each other, they listened to both sides of the story and tried to solve the problem. The girls still didn’t tell them everything- usually things they were embarrassed about- but the four of them had a good relationship. Sure, they were all a little obsessive and eccentric, but they understood and supported each other.

 

Percy was more than happy to help Albus. As a fifth-year, he was deciding what he wanted to be. As far as Percy was aware, his nephew hadn’t expressed what careers he was interested in. There were a lot of nieces and nephews around though- and Albus was one of the quiet ones- so maybe Albus’s thoughts had slipped through the cracks.

 

Percy made a mental note to talk to Ginny to get her ideas. Then, he went back to work.


	2. Hot Chocolate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thanks everyone for all the responses! I hope you like this chapter. This one is from Albus's point of view. This was actually the original start of the story, but I wanted to get Percy's point of view too (and it was one I was more familiar writing in). Then, I went back and added more to this one. It got long.
> 
> As always, I don't own any of these characters. This has not been beta'd or brit-picked, so all mistakes are my own.

“Good morning, sleepy-head! Nice of you to finally join us,” Ginny Potter called out to her youngest son as he shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen.

 

“G‘morning Mum, Lily,” Albus mumbled- still not fully awake despite it being late in the morning. Most of the Potters were morning people. Albus was not.

 

It had been a quiet morning. Unlike most mornings of this break, Albus had not been woken up to a James and Lily fight or an explosion or James and his cousin Freddy literally levitating him out of bed because they were 17 and they could. Snow was falling outside while the fireplaces crackled inside. It was the dream ideal of holiday break.

 

“Your dad made blueberry pancakes before he went to work this morning. I kept a warming charm on them for you,” Ginny explained, “but if you want tea or coffee, you’d have to brew it yourself. James got the last of it, unfortunately, and I wasn’t sure which one you would want.”

 

“It’s all right,” Albus said. He grabbed the plate of pancakes from the counter and gathered the necessary items to make a cup of Earl Grey.

 

As he waited for the kettle to boil, he noticed what Lily and his mother were working on at the table. “Are you _still_ working on that Harpies puzzle, Lily? Christmas holiday will be well over by the time you finish that,” he joked.

 

“It’s two thousand pieces and most of them are green!” Lily argued, “And it’s not like you and James are exactly volunteering to help.”

 

“Speaking of the prat, where is James?” Albus asked as he steeped his teabag into a truly hideous Chudley Cannons mug that Uncle Ron had practically forced on them one year.

 

“He’s helping your uncles with the shop. Christmas rush and all,” Ginny said while working on a section of what appeared to be her own ponytail.

 

Ginny let her son eat in silence for a moment before she spoke up again. “By the way, Albus, your Uncle Percy wants to know if you can come round for tea this afternoon.”

 

Lily giggled.

 

“What? Why?” he asked. It’s not that he hated his Uncle Percy- when he wasn’t on a lecturing mood he was actually pretty fine- but he had no idea why Percy would want to have him round for tea. Percy wasn’t an uncle that he saw often, not like Ron or even George. Albus wasn’t particularly close to his twin daughters either. The best he could assume was that Percy wanted to lecture him on his upcoming O.W.L.s, which Albus _really_ didn’t want to listen to. He got that enough from his own father.

 

“To catch up. And because I asked him to. I think the two of you have a fair deal in common-“

 

“I’m not sure if I should actually consider that a compliment,” Albus quipped.

 

Ginny glared at him. “I _do_ mean it as compliment. Yes, he can be a little preach-y at times, but he means well. And I think you can benefit from having an adult to talk to that isn’t your dad or myself. Or your Uncle Ron, but that’s mainly because he gives terrible advice.”

 

Albus thought for a moment. “Do I really have a choice?”

 

“Not really.”

 

Albus grumbled, “Fine,” before stuffing his face with blueberry pancakes.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

At three o’clock, Albus took the Floo to his Uncle Percy’s house.

 

Percy and his family lived in a mixed magic and Muggle community in Dorset. It was near Puddlemere United’s pitch, where Percy’s husband Oliver worked as a coach. Most people who visited the Weasley-Wood household were surprised to find how comfortable it was. Despite what Percy’s personality would indicate, he didn’t care much for minimalism. There were plenty of family photos. Lucy’s upright piano sat in one corner of the living room and it had been charmed to play Christmas songs. One of the many bookshelves in the house sat nearby. Oliver had Quidditch memorabilia stashed around the house, but the only part of it in this room was a quaffle from his last game signed by everyone on his team. Blankets and throw pillows accented the plush furniture pieces. A rather large Christmas tree sat in the corner. It was covered in lights, tinsel, and an array of handmade and store bought ornaments. Lucy’s white Persian cat- Ludwig- was asleep on the window seat.

 

“Uncle Percy? I’m here,” Albus called out from his place by the fireplace. He brushed off the few pieces of ash off his hoodie.

 

“I’m in the kitchen!”

 

Albus found Percy in the kitchen filling up a kettle from the tap. He was wearing Muggle khaki trousers and a dark blue jumper. His hair was still in its usual style.

 

“Good afternoon, Albus,” Percy greeted his nephew, “Thanks for coming on such sort notice. Would you like tea? Or would you like some hot chocolate? I have some homemade marshmallows as well. I know your mother is on some sort of ‘no sweets’ kick recently, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

 

It was strange to see Uncle Percy so relaxed, but Albus figured that like him, Percy was probably better in small groups. His mum had once explained that Percy tended to get a bit tense during Weasley family gatherings. Albus could understand.

 

“Um, hot chocolate is fine,” Albus said.

 

“All right, hot chocolate it is. There are some treats on the table too. Take whatever you want. We all got a bit overzealous and had a baking competition last night. Oliver made the gingerbread men. Before you ask, yes, they are Quidditch players. I made chocolate cauldron cakes. Molly made toffee. And Lucy made the mince pies.”

 

“Thanks,” Albus said, sitting down and grabbing a toffee.

 

Albus watched Percy make the hot chocolate. “Um, will the others be joining us?” Albus asked.

 

“Possibly,” Percy said, “The girls went to the cinema around lunch, so they may or not show up by the time you leave. Oliver went to finish Christmas shopping, mainly a few odds and ends like more wrapping paper, so he’ll probably be back soon. If he doesn’t get distracted.”

 

Percy brought two mugs, a small bowl of marshmallows, and a pair of tongs over to the kitchen table and sat down. Albus took one of the mugs and covered the top with marshmallows.

 

“How is fifth year going?” Percy asked after taking a sip of his own drink.

 

“It’s fine,” Albus answered, “I think I’m finally getting control of my magic.” After the events of last year, Albus’s magic was indeed stronger. If he could handle the Dark Lord’s daughter, surely Transfiguration should be much easier, right?

 

“That’s great!” Percy smiled, “From what your mum was telling me, I had a feeling that you were just in your own head. Some of the best wizards had to get through that block to make them stronger, like Professor Longbottom.”

 

“Professor Longbottom, really?” Albus asked. Sure, Neville was a gentle guy, and from what his parents told him, a bit dorky as a child, but he was so comfortable around magic.

 

“Oh yes,” Percy said, “I was his prefect for his first three years of school and he struggled a lot. He even told me his family thought he was a squib. I still don’t know what happened but the next time I saw him, he was cutting off the head of the Dark Lord’s snake with the sword of Gryffindor!”

 

“Well, that’s nice to hear that I’m not entirely hopeless,” Albus joked.

 

“You’re far from it,” Percy said. He tapped his figures on the table before continuing, “Has the bullying gotten better? Molly and Lucy used to tell me about it. They tried to stop it as much as they could, but I apologize if it wasn’t enough.”

 

“It’s not their fault, Uncle Percy. I’m sure they tried.” Albus didn’t doubt that they did. While he wasn’t exactly close to either of them, he considered them some of the nicest of his cousins. Molly would play Exploding Snap with him during holidays and Lucy would talk to him about music. They both would wave to him when they passed him in the halls, even if he didn’t wave back. After the Time Turner Incident, they tried to include him even more. He doubted that his primarily Gryffindor bullies would listen to two Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects though. He also doubted that his cousins knew of the extent of his bullying.

 

“Did you know they were bullied too?” Percy asked.

 

“ _Really_?” From what he could tell, Molly and Lucy had plenty of friends and were well liked enough. They weren’t on the same level of Rose or James, but few were. Molly had been a beater and captain on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and Lucy was one of the leaders of both the Hogwarts orchestra and frog choir. Both had been prefects and Lucy had been Head Girl last year.

 

Percy nodded. “You would have to ask them about the specifics as I’m certain they held back the entire truth from Oliver and me, but they were when they were younger. There was of course the whole ‘being the first Weasleys not to be in Gryffindor in generations’ thing, which is a ridiculous thing to care about-“

 

“You didn’t care that neither of them were sorted into Gryffindor?” Albus asked. Percy had always been a proud Gryffindor to his knowledge.

 

“Of course not. Oliver might have been a little upset that ‘neither of them would bring the Quidditch Cup back to Gryffindor’ but he got over it pretty quickly. We both figured it might happen anyway. Lucy has always been a big reader and very creative, so we both figured Ravenclaw would be a given for her. Molly was another matter. We thought she might end up being a hat stall between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but we weren’t surprised when she got sorted into Hufflepuff. Oliver’s maternal family has a lot of Hufflepuffs, including his mother, and Audrey was a Hufflepuff.”

 

“Who is Audrey exactly?” Albus asked, “I’ve heard you mention her before, but no one has ever told me who she is.”

 

Percy ran a hand through his curls. “Oh, of course. I thought everyone knew,” Percy said absentmindedly, but pulled himself together and continued, “Audrey is the twins’ mother. She’s a friend of ours and agreed to be our surrogate.”

 

“Oh! I never knew!” Albus said. He leaned in closer and whispered, “And who is their father?” Lucy had to be related to Percy because she had red, curly hair. Molly was a bit harder to guess. Yes, she had brown hair like Oliver, but Albus didn’t know what exactly Audrey looked like. She did seem to have Percy’s blue eyes though.

 

“Oh, we both are, for both of them.”

 

Albus’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what?” He wondered how that was possible.

 

“It’s very complicated surrogacy magic that basically splits parentage into thirds. It is very rare because it doesn’t always work. It took us five tries. We were about to go into Plan B when it finally worked. “

 

“That’s pretty incredible,” Albus said honestly. He didn’t know medicine had gone this far. “Is she, like, involved in the parenting?”

 

“No, Audrey has her own wife and children,” Percy explained, “But she’s still involved in Molly and Lucy’s lives, like an aunt. And we’re still good friends. We get invited to Hanukkah and Passover and other events with her family. Actually, we all went on a holiday together to the south of France a few years back. It was quite fun!”

 

“That sounds nice,” Albus said.

 

Percy grabbed a mince pie. “Oh,” he said, suddenly aware of the amount he had been talking, “I’m certain I’m boring you with my life st-“

 

Albus interrupted, “No! It was fine! I had no idea and it does sound interesting.”

 

“Enough about me,” Percy said, “Let’s talk about you. I realize that we got off topic earlier. Has the bullying gotten better?”

 

Albus figured if Uncle Percy opened up to him, it was fair he should open up a little too.

 

“Yeah, it has. At the very least, most people leave me and Scorpius alone, but we have friends other than each other now.” Once they were no longer social pariahs, people started talking to the two of them more. They made actual friends with some of the other people in their year. Scorpius had been made prefect and the rest of the prefects took a shine to Scorpius once they realized he was a huge dork. They even liked Albus too.

 

“That’s great! How is Scorpius, by the way?”

 

Albus smiled, “He’s good. Being all Scorpius-y. Panicking about O.W.L.s though. He’s kind of led the way in trying to be more social.”

 

“Let him know I said hello. I liked meeting him at the Quidditch game last year.”

 

Albus was a little surprised. When Albus saw Scorpius talking to his uncles, Scorpius seemed to be coming across strong. Albus was used to his best friend’s quirks, but most people weren’t. Maybe Uncle Percy was used to it too?

 

“Yeah, I’ll let him know. He thinks you’re cool, by the way.” After the game, Scorpius did talk at length about how brilliant Percy was and how he made a lot of changes to Wizard Transportation and how lucky Albus was to have such a cool uncle.

 

Percy let out a rare laugh. “No one has ever called me ‘cool’ before.”

 

“Well, Scorpius is a bit of a dork- a lot of a dork- so you’re cool to dorks.”

 

“You know what? I’ll take that,” Percy said, still laughing. Albus laughed too.

 

“I’ve been learning guitar,” Albus volunteered. He was starting to get more comfortable around his uncle. It was nice to talk without judgment.

 

“Really?” Percy asked, “Your parents said something about you being interested in learning, but I didn’t know you already were.”

 

“Um, yeah, another Slytherin boy- his name is Brandon, he’s a year ahead of me- has been letting me borrow his spare guitar and showing me a few chords.”

 

Brandon was cool. He was also extremely fit- a thought Albus wasn’t exactly ready to begin exploring. Brandon had noticed Albus staring at him playing guitar in the common room and asked if he was interested in music. Albus said that he loved music and was interested in learning guitar. Then, Brandon invited him over and gave him a brief music lesson and it spun out from there. It was nice to have his attention. Albus wanted his own guitar though.

 

“That’s nice of him,” Percy said, “I probably don’t need to tell you this, but you should talk to Lucy. She can give you a few pointers. And who knows, maybe you’ll get a guitar for Christmas?”

 

Albus was suspicious. “Do you know something I don’t know? Are my parents getting me a guitar for Christmas?!”

 

Percy took a casual sip of his hot chocolate. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not at liberty to tell you.”

 

“So you do know.” It wasn’t a question. Albus started to feel giddy.

 

Percy shrugged, but smiled. He decided to change the subject. “Are you participating in any extra-curricular activities?”

 

“Someone started a Wizard’s Chess club and I’ve been going to that,” Albus said.

 

“I didn’t know you still like Wizard’s Chess,” Percy said, “We should play sometime.”

 

“Ok,” Albus said, “It would be nice to play against someone at Christmas dinner who isn’t Uncle Ron.”

 

“He’s rather dramatic about it, isn’t he?” Percy laughed.

 

“He’s the _worst_!” Albus whined, “He’s such a showboat about it. Like, I know, he’s one of the best Wizard’s Chess players I’ve ever met but he can be so _annoying_ about it.”

 

“Tell me about it. He’ll get into my head about strategy by commenting on my moves as I make them. I had to stop playing against him for a while because it would really make my blood boil.”

 

“We can add Louis to our group. I’ve played against him before at Chess Club and he’s good. Still needs to work on some of his strategy,” Albus mentioned, “And Roxanne and Dominique. I know they play.”

 

“I’ll tell your grandfather as well. He plays on occasion.”

 

“My dad doesn’t really play at all. Mum will sometimes, but not that often,” Albus said.

 

“I don’t think either of them ever had the patience for it,” Percy said. “I tried teac-“ A sound of car coming up the driveway, then a door slamming interrupted Percy. “Oh, that must be Oliver.”

 

Sure enough, a moment later they could hear Oliver burst through the front door.

 

“I’m home!” Oliver sang out.

 

“Albus and I are in the kitchen!” Percy called back.

 

Albus heard the rustling of bags and fabric, then the sound of Oliver struggling.

 

“Ah! Freedom! I need to put a stretching charm on those boots,” Oliver said as he came into the kitchen, carrying a large sack of wrapping paper and another, opaque bag. He placed them on the counter.

 

“Why isn’t it my favorite nephew?!” Oliver said, reaching to ruffle Albus’s hair.

 

Albus doubted that was true, but he didn’t say anything. Oliver loved Quidditch and Albus didn’t play, mainly on principle.

 

“What were you gents talking about?” Oliver asked. He was leaning against the kitchen counter.

 

“Um, Wizard’s Chess,” Albus said.

 

“We were thinking of having a little tournament at Christmas. Ron isn’t invited,” Percy said.

 

“He’ll be too busy trying out pranks with George anyway,” Oliver said, “I hate being their test subject. Last year they made my mouth all numb.”

 

“You need to stop taking whatever they give you, love,” Percy said. He turned to Albus. “He’s known them for well over 20 years and he _still_ hasn’t learned.” Albus chuckled.

 

“Yeah, well,” Oliver said, trying to defend himself, but coming up with nothing. He sat at the kitchen table. “How’s Hogwarts, Albus?”

 

“Fine,” Albus said.

 

“O.W.L.s are coming up, aren’t they? Studying hard?” Oliver asked.

 

“Yeah. James has made me do some practice sessions with him in the Room of Requirement when Scorpius isn’t dragging me to school-sanctioned study sessions.”

 

“Worried?” Oliver asked.

 

“My brain is about to explode from all the information.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, Albus,” Percy said, “You’re very bright.”

 

“You’re not going to give me a lecture?” Albus asked, deciding to push his luck.

 

“Do you _want_ a lecture?” Percy asked, confused.

 

“No,” Albus said, “But everyone is always stressing how important O.W.Ls are, like I don’t already know! My dad keeps stressing how important it is for jobs and asking what I want to my life and I don’t know. I’m only fifteen! Why should I know what I want to do with my life at fifteen?”

 

“Woah,” Oliver said. He then patted Albus’s shoulder. “It’s okay, kid.”

 

“It’s perfectly fine that you don’t know what you want to do with the rest of your life at fifteen,” Percy said, “I know your dad is worried, but you’ll figure it out. And tell him _I_ said that if he brings it up. Your dad barely knew what he was doing at your age. I think he just figured out he wanted to be an auror. As long as you do well in your core classes, you will have a lot of opportunities.”

 

“And if you ever need advice, either of us can help. I might not be Percy with twelve O.W.L.s, but seven isn’t shabby. I mean, they were mostly ‘E’s, but still. And I’m sure the girls would be more than happy to help,” Oliver added.

 

“Let’s see what we can do. What electives did you choose?” Percy asked.

 

“Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arthimacy, and Divination,” Albus said.

 

“Good mix,” Oliver said. He took a bite out of a gingerbread man that looked a lot like Viktor Krum. Albus swore he muttered an apology before he bit into it.

 

“Are there any classes you especially enjoy?” Percy asked.

 

“Astronomy is pretty cool. And I’ve been getting into Divination recently?” Albus said. He had been getting into Divination, but he wanted to step lightly. Most of the family thought Divination was, at best, a bit odd. His own father took it and seemed a bit iffy on it all. Aunt Hermione thought it was worthless. Albus had no idea where Percy stood on it.

 

“Don’t let your Aunt Hermione hear you say that,” Percy said.

 

“Oh, I know,” Albus said with a smile.

 

“She and I disagree on it all the time,” Percy said, “I think she refuses to listen to her instincts and thinks too much.”

 

“She does,” Albus agreed.

 

“Percy _loves_ Divination. Still uses a crystal ball and pays attention to clouds and the stars for omens,” Oliver said, “Ooh! Thought! Have you considered combining Astronomy and Divination and doing Astrology?”

 

“Good idea, Ollie!” Percy smiled at his husband.

 

“That was something Professor Farley suggested during our fifth-year meeting. She also says I have a future in Transfiguration, if I wanted, and that Professor Haywood said the same thing about Potions.”

 

“Are you interested in either of those?” Percy asked.

 

“I mean, I like both Transfiguration and Potions, but I think I prefer Astronomy.”

 

“All right! That means we’re on to something!” Percy exclaimed, “Oliver, please hand me that note pad by you on the counter and a quill? We can brainstorm some ideas!”

 

 

Oliver began to lean over to the counter as Albus spoke, “I’m sorry, but can we _please_ move on to anything else? I’m really not in the mood to talk about this right now,” While it did feel good to have some direction, Albus was starting to feel stressed again. There was a tightness forming in his chest. Talk of the future gave him so much anxiety.

 

“All right,” conceded Percy, looking disappointed, “But we are always available for advice.”

 

Albus let out a breath. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“Thinking of joining the Slytherin Quidditch team?” Oliver asked. Percy groaned.

 

“Oh, I don’t know…” Albus said.

 

“You used to enjoy Quidditch so much!” Oliver said.

 

“Please, Ollie, let it go,” Percy sighed, “Not everyone wants to play Quidditch.”

 

Oliver gasped and clutched his hands to his chest. “Not everyone wants to play Quidditch?!” Albus was beginning to think Oliver’s dramatics might be a joke. At least a little.

 

“Don’t be like that. One of our daughters doesn’t,” Percy pointed out, “And never wanted to.”

 

“Lucy knows how I feel about that,” Oliver said darkly and gave his husband a dramatic look. Percy stared at him. Oliver suddenly relaxed and laughed, “I know, I know. I’m just kidding. Quidditch isn’t everything.”

 

“If I had heard you say that 20 years ago, I would have assumed you’d been Confunded,” Percy quipped.

 

“I know, right? Who would have thought a husband and kids would make me realize that?”

 

“Still bloody competitive though,” Percy said, patting his husband’s hand.

 

“No offense, but you two are kind of weird,” Albus said. They were a lot stranger than Albus initially thought. Percy loved Divination? And Oliver was kind of quirky?

 

“We know,” Oliver and Percy said together.

 

“It took us a while to acknowledge it, but we are well aware,” Percy added.

 

A voice came from the living room, “Took you long enough!”

 

Albus jumped in his seat. “What was that?”

 

“Hi!” Molly Weasley-Wood said crossing the threshold into the kitchen.

 

“It’s our favorite Slytherin!” Lucy said running up to Albus and throwing her arms around him.

 

“Hi Lucy, Hi Molly,” Albus mumbled. Lucy let go of her cousin. Molly took her sister’s place, but didn’t have her boa-like grip.

 

“When did you get here?” Percy asked.

 

“We Apparated in when Albus said something about you two being weird,” Molly explained as she hopped onto the kitchen counter. She casually hit the heels of her canvas Doc Martens against the lower cabinets.

 

“Hey, Molly, we’ve discussed the boot thing,” Oliver said sharply.

 

“Oops, sorry,” she said and dug her wand out of one of her cargo pockets. With a flick of her wand, her boots unlaced themselves and dropped on the tile floor. Percy sighed.

 

Mug of hot chocolate in hand, Lucy sat next to Albus at the table. “Sixth time she’s done it this week. Drives Dad and Pops absolutely mental. She always tracks mud in,” she whispered.

 

“I can hear you!”

 

“Then your ears are working,” retorted Lucy.

 

“Girls,” Oliver said warningly.

 

Albus didn’t enjoy listening to arguments, so he decided to change the subject. “Lucy, are those new glasses?” he asked.

 

She adjusted her glasses. “Yes!” she said cheerfully, “My vision changed again this past year. I could barely read my sheet music.”

 

“I think they suit you,” Albus said.

 

“Thank you!”

 

If anyone could pull off large, blue cat-eye glasses, it was Lucy Weasley-Wood. Scorpius had once described her as “statuesque”. Like her twin, she was tall.   But she didn’t favor Molly’s more athletic, tomboyish style. The word that came to mind was “eclectic”. Albus had once heard his father say that some of her clothes reminded him of Sirius Black. Other times, she borrowed from even older Muggle styles. Currently, she was wearing a Queen shirt tucked into high-waisted jeans with a colorful, baggy cardigan.

 

“How was the film, girls?” Oliver asked.

 

“Fine,” said Lucy, shrugging.

 

“Oh, you know, just the usual superhero stuff- people in colorful outfits, aliens, a forced heteronormative romance,” Molly said.

 

“Speaking of forced heteronormativity,” Lucy said, “The bloke at the concession stand tried flirting with Molly.”

 

“How did _that_ go?” Percy asked.

 

“It was like he was talking to a passive-aggressive brick wall,” joked Lucy.

 

“I _am_ interested in men in addition to women in case everyone forgot,” Molly said defensively, “But it was that arsehole Richie Cameron who bullied Lucy in primary school.”

 

“Oh, that child was a massive shithead,” Oliver said, “I never liked him.”

 

Lucy turned to Albus. “Molly once threw a dodge ball at his face in PE after he made me cry over a week of bullying. Gave him a nosebleed,” she said proudly.

 

“I got in trouble for it, but it was worth it,” Molly said.

 

“Listen, I know I shouldn’t support violence, but that was one of my proudest days as a parent,” Percy said, “He was a dick.”

 

Albus couldn’t help the gasp at Percy’s language. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear.”

 

Oliver let out a loud laugh. “You should come around more often. He doesn’t overdo it, but it really comes out when he’s stressed.”

 

Percy shrugged. “I keep it in at family functions, especially in front of you kids.”

 

“Speaking of family functions,” Lucy said, “Al, who did you get for Secret Santa?”

 

Instead of buying gifts for each cousin, the younger Weasley generation participated in a Secret Santa. It had been Grandma Molly’s idea years ago. She made each of them fill out a parchment of things they were interested in and then she would owl each grandchild sometime during the school year with who they got. No one ever got his or her own sibling. Grandma Molly was very insistent they bought their gifts personally and took it seriously. The parents still bought presents for their nieces and nephews though.

 

“Not telling,” said Albus. He actually had gotten Molly, but she didn’t need to know. Molly was actually pretty easy to shop for. Everyone knew her main interests were Herbology, feminism, Muggle novels, baking, and Quidditch,. Her note mentioned a second-hand bookstore she liked in London. Scorpius- who was familiar with the shop and loved any excuse to go there- gladly joined Albus on his excursion. One of the shopkeepers recognized Scorpius and kindly helped them find a few books Molly might like.

 

“Molly got Louis,” Lucy said.

 

“How are you a Ravenclaw and not know what ‘secret’ means?” her sister asked.

 

“Like Albus is going to tell Louis,” Lucy scoffed, “Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and their kids are in France until the 23rd and postage to France is a _fortune_.”

 

“Hmm, fair,” Molly conceded.

 

“Who did you get, Lucy?” Albus asked.

 

“Don’t bother. Lucy never tells,” Percy said.

 

“Yeah, she just tells people mine,” Molly muttered under her breath.

 

Lucy chose to ignore her sister. “That’s because Pops is terrible at keeping secrets and he’ll gab on this one for certain,” said Lucy, giving Oliver a pointed look over her glasses in a way that reminded Albus eerily of Percy.

 

“In all fairness, I _am_ terrible at secrets,” Oliver said to Albus, “I ‘blurt whatever thought comes into my thick skull’ and ‘don’t think before I speak’.” He was using air quotes, probably to quote multiple people.

 

“It’s true. He ruined my surprise 40th birthday party for me,” Percy said.

 

“Is that why your reaction was so over the top?” Albus asked. Albus remembered that evening. Percy’s reaction was on par with a class clown forced to do a skit in class. It was a lot of loud ‘What?!’s and ‘Huh?!’s and ‘I’m so surprised!’. James still re-enacted Percy’s response when anything remotely unpleasant happened, like running out of milk.

 

Percy nodded. “I also hate surprises, so it’s not a bad thing he told me,” he said, “I just wanted to make everyone else happy.”

 

“Lucy and I think Pops’s memory issues has to do with all the bludgers to the head,” Molly fake-whispered to Albus.

 

“Hey! I’m just terrible at secrets. I don’t have bloody amnesia,” Oliver said.

 

“Speaking of Christmas,” Albus said, “Are you two giving out your boring, practical presents again?” Percy and Oliver had a reputation amongst the youngest Weasleys for not giving “fun” presents. They were immensely practical: quill sets, winter hats, books, etc. Everyone else gave pranks, sweets, sporting equipment, or things from their travels.

 

“Question for you, Albus,” Percy said, “Did you use the fuzzy socks we gave out last year?”

 

“Yeah, they were really nice to have in the dungeons.”

 

“Then I rest my case,” Percy said.

 

“I was just teasing!” Albus huffed, “I’ve used, like, most of your presents. I never really use the pranks.”

 

“You know,” Oliver said to the group, “Everyone thinks the presents are all Perce’s idea, but I’ve come up with half of them. What’s with that?”

 

“The kids think because you’re a star Quidditch player, you aren’t also a nerd. But we know the truth,” Molly said with a wink at Albus.

 

“And I have the reputation of ‘Boring Percy’ among my siblings,” Percy said. Albus caught a hint of bitterness in his tone.

 

“I don’t think you’re boring,” Oliver said, giving his husband a peck on the cheek.

 

“ _Eeewwww_ ,” the twins squealed in jest. Albus figured this must have been some family in-joke. He was beginning to feel a bit lost.

 

“All right,” Molly said, “Let’s stop embarrassing poor Albus. Poor thing is turning a bit pink.”

 

The five of them chatted for a while longer. All of them were surprisingly good at including Albus and making him feel comfortable. Sure, the Weasley-Wood family was a little intense and really odd, but that’s kind of what made Albus feel comfortable around them. Eventually, Molly left the kitchen to check on her plants. Then Oliver went to finish wrapping presents and Lucy went to practice her cello in her room.

 

After a moment of silence, Percy spoke quietly, “Um, I didn’t want to say it while everyone else was around, but I know what you are going through. With your father.”

 

“ _Sure,_ ” Albus said dismissively. Percy seemed to get along fine with Grandpa Arthur.

 

“I’m serious, Albus,” Percy said, “I know it seems like your grandfather and I have a good relationship, but it took _years_ of work. Has anyone ever- do you know- um-“ Percy furrowed his brow and took a deep breath, but continued, “Has your parents- or anyone- ever told you what happened with me and the family during the War?”

 

Albus had never seen his uncle at a loss for words. It was strange. “I know you saw Uncle Fred die,” he said softly. His mother had told him a few years ago when he asked why Uncle Percy was always silent during the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.

 

Percy stirred his spoon in his cup of hot chocolate. “That is true, I did,” he said, “But, um, I made a massive mistake when I was 19. You see, when Voldemort was on the rise for the second time, after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, not everyone believed that was true. I’m not going to get into details- it will take ages- but I was facing an inquest at the Ministry at the time of the final task, so I didn’t see what happened. And it’s easy to not believe things if you don’t see them, especially if it means doom. Minister Fudge saved me from a ruined career and I was indebted to him, so when he said it wasn’t real and that Dumbledore was making things up, I believed him. I had my own concerns about Dumbledore at the time anyway. I felt that he put children in danger too easily and I didn’t like that. My father believed that I was promoted to basically spy on the family, which, in hindsight, I was. Fudge was immensely paranoid in his later years as Minister. But I told my family they were wrong for trusting Dumbledore, which is when the spy accusation happened. That hurt. And years and years of resentment and anger came bubbling out of me. I had been the odd one out of my family for years and was ridiculed a lot by my brothers. Mum always defended me, but Dad usually laughed it off as harmless fun. And to them, it may have been harmless, but it legitimately hurt me. And I shoved it down and shoved it down until all of the bad thoughts came hurling out of me at my father. I said things I didn’t mean or things I knew would hurt. Really terrible things. And he argued back. And some of it was really hurtful. And when all was said and done, I disowned my family until right before the Battle of Hogwarts. I had wanted to go back way before then, but I wasn’t sure if they’d accept me and then it was too dangerous to go back. Of course, I did end up going back, but I had to do a lot of repairing to fix some damaged relationships.”

 

At some point during his uncle’s story, Albus had started to cry. He felt so sorry for Percy. And he recognized himself in the story too. He almost died, scared his family, almost got Scorpius killed, and got Craig killed in the process last year because of someone abused his loneliness and feelings of inadequacy. He had kept so many feelings down too and exploded at his dad. And he felt his dad also kept some emotions bottled up. Albus’s councilor constantly told him that people make mistakes and that it was OK, but Albus still had some left over guilt.

 

Albus felt the chair next to him move. Percy tentatively put an arm around him. “Are you OK, Albus? I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Percy’s voice sounded wobbly.

 

“I’m just remembering I’m an idiot,” Albus sniffed.

 

“No you’re not. If you’re an idiot, that means I’m an idiot,” Percy said handing Albus a handkerchief. “It’s OK to have emotions. In fact, emotions are important. We have to recognize them to help us acknowledge there’s a problem and solve it. You and I, we keep things bottled up, so we need to express when we’re feeling bad.”

 

Albus worked on some calming breaths his councilor taught him while Percy spoke in a calming tone. Eventually, he sat up straighter to show he was OK. He rubbed his hands on his jeans.

 

“Are you feeling better?” Percy asked.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Do you want one of the sweets?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll take a cauldron cake.”

 

Percy handed Albus a cauldron cake and took one for himself.

 

“Thank you for telling me your story,” Albus said, “I know it must have been hard for you, but it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who’s done something stupid.”

 

“That’s why I told you it,” Percy said, “I wanted to let you know life does get better if you work on things. Somehow I ended up with a nice house, a fit husband, two wonderful daughters, a good relationship with my family, and nice job. See, we aren’t defined by the dumb stuff we’ve done as teenagers.”

 

“That’s good to know,” Albus said, “The, um, music thing has been helping me focus my energy.”

 

“Music is good for coping. We can tell what mood Lucy is in based on what she is playing. Did you know she once told me you had ‘an artistic soul’? I’m inclined to agree with her.”

 

“I wish I was a better guitar player to actually play more music,” Albus said, “Maybe write something?”

 

“Well, when you get a guitar, you’ll have more time for practice,” Percy said.

 

“So, I am getting a guitar for Christmas?”

 

Percy looked like he had been caught in a trap. He sighed. “Just act surprised. And I didn’t tell you anything, all right?”

 

“I’ll blame Uncle Oliver if I get caught. _If_ I get caught.” Albus didn’t plan to.

 

Percy laughed. “Spoken like a true Slytherin.” Percy stood up from the table. “Let’s get you home. I’m sure your mum is wondering where you’ve been and I’d prefer not to be hexed by my sister. She’s terrifying when she wants to be.”

 

Albus nodded and stood. His uncle led him to the living room.

 

“Albus is going home! Speak now or forever hold your peace!” Percy yelled.

 

Oliver popped his head out of the library. “Bye, kid! If you ever want to try out for the Quidditch team, let me know!”

 

“Bye, Uncle Oliver!”

 

“Oh, Albus is leaving?” Molly said, entering the living room. She was still wearing gardening gloves and a smock. “I hope you had fun at the madhouse! See you at Christmas. I would hug you, but dirt.”

 

“I can hug him for you,” Lucy said, appearing behind Albus. Her hug this time was less boa-like. “We should have a jam session sometime. Or a lesson.”

 

“I’ll think about it,” Albus said. “Bye, Molly. Bye Lucy.”

 

“Bye,” the twins said simultaneously and then both Apparated away.

 

“It was nice having you around, Albus,” Percy said, offering him the jar of Floo Powder, “I hope we didn’t scare you off.”

 

“I had fun. I mean, except that whole crying thing at the end there. But I learned a lot about all of you.”

 

“Well, if you ever want to talk, feel free to stop by anytime. We’ll be happy to have you.”

 

Albus hesitated for a moment, but decided to go for it. He hugged his uncle. Percy seemed surprised, but hugged him back. “Thank you for the advice,” Albus said.

 

“Anytime, Albus,” Percy said.

 

Albus ended the hug by stepping away.

 

“Wow, I somehow managed to not spill Floo Powder everywhere,” Percy said while survey the floor.

 

“Isn’t that a job requirement?” Albus asked.

 

“Funny,” Percy said, offering Albus the Floo Powder again. Albus took a handful and went to the fireplace.

 

“Bye, Uncle Percy.”

 

“Bye, Albus! Have a good evening.”

 

Albus called out the name of his home and was gone in a flash of green light.

 

The living room of the Potter house was surprisingly empty.

 

“I’m home!” Albus called out.

 

Harry Potter looked out from the kitchen. “Oh, hello, Albus! I got off work a little early. I’m making dinner. Your mum and Lily went to visit the Scamanders and James is still at work. How was Uncle Percy’s?”

 

“Good. We had a good chat. Learned a lot of things.”

 

Harry smiled. “Good! Well, I could use a sous chef. Want to help me chop up some vegetables and tell me about it?”

 

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


	3. Christmas Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while! I've been a bit busy and you'll see this chapter is very long. But thank you for all the wonderful responses so far! I really hope you'll like this one, even if it involves more Weasleys than just Percy and Albus.
> 
> As always, I do not own this characters and this has not been beta'd or Brit picked.

“All right, everyone, do we have everything?” Percy asked his family gathered in their living room. They were about to head to the Burrow for Christmas dinner. Dinner was a bit of a misnomer because while dinner was served, most people arrived by mid-afternoon and left pretty late into the night. Percy’s family always arrived early to assist Molly and Arthur in their set up. With so many family members, it was better to double and triple check they had everything than realize “Oh no, we left Hugo’s present on the table” just as they were passing out presents.

 

“I have Grandma Molly’s jumpers for photos,” Lucy said while waving her bag enchanted with an extension charm. “And mine and Mol’s gifts for Secret Santa. And _maybe_ some instruments.”

 

“How many instruments?” Oliver asked. If Lucy could bring all her instruments and play all night, she would. It wasn’t that she was anti-social, it was more that she got a bit lost in the music and kind of ignored everything else. To encourage socialization, Percy and Oliver’s rule was that for family events, Lucy was limited to four instruments maximum and could only play for a total of one hour, unless she was requested to play longer. Her harp, piano, and drums were forbidden for being too difficult to carry.

 

“Three. Just a guitar, violin, and a dulcimer. I promise to actually talk to people,” Lucy said.

 

“Good,” Percy said, “Molly, you have the food?”

 

“Yep. I have Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, pumpkin pie, and a chocolate torte,” Molly said, looking into her own bag.

 

“Brilliant. I have two chess boards, a camera, and a few portable chairs. Oliver, dear, you have the presents?”

 

“Yes. I have twenty-two. All nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, parents, and soon-to-be nephew are accounted for. I’ve triple-counted. The girls have each counted and verified and you’ve counted and verified.”

 

“I’m so excited to see Gran’s face when she opens her present,” Molly said.

 

“She’s going to cry,” Lucy added.

 

Percy may have been playing favorites among his parents, but the Weasley-Woods had whipped up something special for Percy’s mum. They had still gotten Arthur something he’d really enjoy, but Molly’s gift had taken a lot of time, effort, and bargaining- especially with a certain difficult family member. All of the adults in the family had been involved in some capacity, but the Weasley-Woods had been the ones to put it all together.

 

“And what’s the code word for if one of us gets overwhelmed or upset?” Oliver asked the group.

 

“Ludwig,” Molly, Lucy, and Percy said together.

 

Ludwig was the name of Lucy’s cat. He was chosen this time because he was unlikely to come up in conversation, but still wasn’t entirely unusual to bring up. The code word was to tell everyone in their family that one of them needed to step away at a large function. It could also be used to tell someone else was doing something concerning. At least one member of the family would assist the person having troubles. Typically, they would go to a private area and access the situation. Percy had found this idea in a parenting book when the girls were young and decided to implement it. It was easy for difficult emotions to rise to the top at large events such as the Weasley family dinner. Percy had had war flashbacks or intense feelings about Fred at these events. It had gotten better since the early days, but they sometimes still appeared. When that happened, Oliver would take him somewhere quiet and lead him through exercises to calm down. Percy wasn’t the only one had used a code word. The girls typically used it if they felt peer pressured into doing something they didn’t want to do. Usually, it was a prank, but once it had been one of their cousins encouraging them to sneak some alcohol. A few times, Lucy had used it when she felt alienated from her cousins. Both Molly and Oliver had used it to express concern about someone else. It was a system that worked for them.

 

“Any one else have anything to add?” Percy asked his family. He got three headshakes. “Who wants to go first?” Percy grabbed the jar of Floo Powder off the mantle.

 

“I’ll go!” Molly said, stepping up. She took some powder out of the jar, stepped into the fireplace, called out ‘The Burrow’, and was gone in green flames.

 

Lucy went next.

 

Before Oliver went, he turned to Percy. “You going to be OK today?”

 

If anyone knew Percy’s secrets the best, it was his husband Oliver. He had been around for a lot of the family drama. The things he wasn’t around for, he heard about. Percy got along with his family _way_ better than he used to. He apologized. His siblings and parents apologized. They addressed a lot of issues in the months after Fred’s funeral. Everyone had grievances to air with each other. It wasn’t just Percy’s issues with primarily the twins and his father: there was Bill’s issues with the entire family’s treatment of Fleur, Ron’s feelings of inadequacy, Molly’s feeling that no one listened to her and respected her ideas, amongst a whole other slew of problems. Everyone had input on everything. For example, Molly had called out everyone for how they treated Percy throughout the years. There was something cathartic in getting all those feelings out, even if it didn’t solve everything. Percy still got teased on occasion, but his family tended to go on lighter subjects. If things got legitimately hurtful, Oliver wasn’t afraid to call the Weasleys out on it. The main problem with Christmas dinner was that it was loud and hectic.

 

“I’ll be fine,” Percy said.

 

“If anyone gives you shit…” Oliver started.

 

“I’ll send them over to you,” Percy finished.

 

“Good,” Oliver said. He then kissed his husband on the cheek.

 

Oliver took the Floo Powder Percy offered and went through the fireplace. Percy brought up the rear.

 

Once Percy landed at the Burrow, it was obvious they were the first ones there. Well, except Charlie. He was in the middle of greeting his nieces.

 

“How have you two grown to be as tall as me?” Charlie asked Molly and Lucy.

 

“A bit taller, actually,” Molly said.

 

“Because our dads are tall?” Lucy said. Both Percy and Oliver were over six feet tall. Charlie, on the other hand, was like George and was around five foot eight.

 

“Well, in fairness, Audrey is short,” Molly said to her sister.

 

“How is she, by the way?” Charlie asked, “And Felicity?” He looked to Oliver and Percy. Audrey and her wife Felicity had been in Percy and Oliver’s year, but Charlie only got to know them a bit better after his time at Hogwarts.  

 

“They’re both doing well. So are their kids,” Percy said, “We went over to their place for a few nights of Hanukkah. Felicity says they’re not looking forward to when Nina finally graduates Hogwarts in a few years and they become full empty nesters.”

 

“And how are you handling empty nesting?” Charlie asked as he hugged both Percy and Oliver.

 

“I mean, it’s not much different than the girls being in Hogwarts,” Percy said, “Ask us in a few years.”

 

“How’s New Zealand?” Oliver asked.

 

Years ago, Charlie left his Romanian dragon sanctuary to become one of the top dragonologists at a sanctuary in New Zealand.

 

“Great! It’s much warmer there right now than it is here. It was a bit of a shock to the system when I got here. Anyway, I’ve been hiking when I haven’t been taking care of the dragons. It’s absolutely beautiful out there. Oh, and we have a couple of dragon eggs right now, so we’re just waiting for them to hatch.”

 

“Can we visit Uncle Charlie in New Zealand?” Molly asked her fathers with large eyes, “I’ve always wanted to go there! Think of all the plant life!”

 

Percy looked at his husband. Oliver shrugged in a “I don’t know” way. “We’ll talk about it later,” Percy said. He wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, but it would involve _a lot_ of planning.

 

Before the younger Molly could say anything, they were all saved by the elder Molly Weasley popping her head out of the kitchen. “Charlie, is someone here?” she asked. She smiled when she realized who was there. “Percy! Oliver! The twins! How are you dearies?”

 

She hugged Molly and Lucy first, as they were closer to her.

 

“Don’t you two look lovely,” Molly said to her granddaughters as she looked them over.

 

“Thank you! I did Molly’s hair. Doesn’t it look nice?” Lucy said. Usually, Molly kept her hair in a French braid, but that morning Lucy had convinced her sister to let her do a braid crown at the top of her head and keep the rest in waves. However, Lucy wasn’t able to convince her to dress more stylishly than high-waist trousers and a striped short-sleeve button-up. Lucy, on the other hand, opted for an early 60s style plaid dress.

 

“It does look absolutely darling, Molly” Molly said to her granddaughters, “And yours too, Lucy. I used to wear my hair half-up like that when I was a girl, you know.” She noticed their bags. “What did you two bring?”

 

“I brought our jumpers and our Secret Santa presents and a few instruments,” Lucy said.

 

“I have our food,” the younger Molly said, lifting her bag.

 

“Molly, why don’t you take the food into the kitchen? And Lucy, if you could, please put your presents on that empty table near the tree,” Grandma Molly suggested, “I could use some help with the rest of the meal, if either of you are willing.”

 

“I can help!” Molly II said and hurried into the kitchen. Like Percy and her namesake, Molly enjoyed cooking. Lucy wasn’t as enthusiastic as her sister. She liked cooking well enough, but didn’t _love_ it. She claimed it took time away from her other interests. Percy had a feeling she didn’t enjoy being bossed around by her sister in the kitchen either.

 

After Lucy put her presents on the suggested table, she looked around waiting for instructions.

 

“Lucy, could you and Charlie grab your granddad and start setting up tables? He’s working in the shed outside. There’s clean tablecloths folded in a basket near the foot of the stairs,” Molly said.

 

“Okay! C’mon Uncle Charlie!” Lucy grabbed Charlie’s wrist and started dragging him to the outside doors.

 

“Hello, Oliver dear! And my darling Percy!” Molly said offering up her arms for hugs. Oliver went first, followed by Percy.

 

“Hello, Mum,” Percy said.

 

“How was your morning? Everyone like their presents?” Molly asked.

 

“We didn’t get any complaints,” Percy said, “Lucy did wake us up at 6AM with the bagpipes though. Other than that, it was lovely.”

 

“ _I_ liked the bagpipes,” Oliver said.

 

“To each his own,” Percy said. The likeability of bagpipes was a long disagreement of theirs.  Since their time at Hogwarts, actually. Percy thought some Dark Wizard must have created them for torture. Oliver-a proud Scot- thought they were his heritage’s best legacy. Years ago, it was decided that they were never going to get the other to some to his side, so it became neutral territory. Oliver got to have three songs played on the bagpipes during their wedding.   Considering Oliver wanted a bagpiper in their band at the reception playing _all the songs_ and Percy wanted no bagpipes in a hundred meter radius of their wedding, three songs ended up being a relatively fair concession. No one was allowed to encourage or discourage Lucy from playing the bagpipes. Percy had a feeling Oliver suggested it to her anyway, but he didn’t want it to upset Lucy.

 

“How was your morning, Mum?” Percy asked.

 

“Your father made breakfast for me,” Molly said happily.

 

“How did that go?” Percy asked. At best, his dad was an OK cook. His usual problems were cooking times and how to flavor things. At worst, it was a disaster. On occasion, he would try to use Muggle technology that he really didn’t know how to use properly, powered by magic that he made up.

 

“He burnt the bacon a little, but it’s the thought that counts.”

 

“Is there a place I can put these chess boards?” Percy asked.

 

“Oh, yes! Having a game section sounds so fun. I’m glad you came up with it. I was thinking we could set that up after dinner and presents? How about you put them in one of the old bedrooms for right now to safekeeping and we’ll get them after dinner. How does that sound?” Molly said.

 

“Sounds good to me,” Percy said, “I’ll put them in my old room.”

 

As Percy ran up to his childhood bedroom, he could hear the sounds of his daughter, brother, and father levitating in a few tables and chairs. Mainly, it was Lucy loudly telling everyone that they were coming in the house and get out of their path. Given the size of the Weasley family, large dinners like this with all the family meant that the kitchen table alone wasn’t practical. When most of the kids were still fairly young, it was decided that the best solution was to have a few large tables around the main floor of the Burrow. Food was grabbed buffet-style from the kitchen counters and it was “highly encouraged” not to eat with your own side of the family as much as possible.

 

When Percy joined his family downstairs again, the tables were indeed being set up. His mum had disappeared back into the kitchen with the younger Molly. Oliver- ever the coach- was telling Arthur, Charlie, and Lucy where to put the two large tables. Once both tables were placed, Percy considered it safe to come closer.

 

“Hello Percy!” Arthur greeted his son when he noticed him.

 

“Hi Dad! I grabbed the tablecloths,” Percy said, showing him the basket.

 

“Brilliant!” Arthur said. “Let’s take some stress off of your mother’s shoulders, shall we? Charlie, Oliver, and I will set up the Extension Chairs.   And Percy and Lucy will work on table decorations. How does that sound?”

 

“Let’s do it,” Charlie said. They set to work.

 

Just as they were finishing last-touches with Lucy conjuring up some poinsettias, the flash of green from the Floo popped up. Freddy Weasley stepped out of the fireplace.

 

“Freddy!” Lucy called out and ran up to hug him.

 

“Hey Lucy-Goosey!” He said as he hugged her back, “It’s been so long!”

 

“Oh no! You have ash on your spectacles! Let me fix it,” Lucy said. She pointed her wand in Freddy’s face and said a spell what removed the fireplace remnants from his glasses.

 

“Thanks,” Freddy said.

 

Roxanne Weasley popped out of the fireplace next. She ran up to hug Lucy.

 

“Where’s Mols?” Roxy asked.

 

“Kitchen,” Lucy said.

 

Roxy almost ran to find her fellow Hufflepuff cousin, but stopped to greet everyone else.

 

Angelina came out of the fireplace next, followed by George.

 

“Hey Perce! Long time, no see!” George said, hugging his older brother.

 

“We saw each other last week,” Percy said. George then went to hug Oliver.

 

In the years since the War, Percy and George had gotten much closer. George had apologized profusely for some of his past behavior when they were younger. He admitted that he and Fred felt that since they couldn’t be “good” like Percy or their older brothers, they were going to be as different as possible. There was a lot of insecurity there. After Fred’s death, Percy became George’s emotional confidant. They had suffered together. Percy had actually let George stay at his and Oliver’s apartment while George was trying to decide what to do next. Eventually, he started the business again and tried to move on. He asked Percy for help on some of the business side of things on occasion. When George asked if Percy wanted to be Freddy’s godfather, Percy sobbed for an hour. Their kids were close. Molly and Lucy treated Freddy and Roxy like younger siblings. Freddy was only a year younger than the girls. Even if he hung out with James more now, he was still close to the twins. Roxanne was three years younger than Freddy and practically idolized her older cousins. She especially loved Molly. They were both Hufflepuffs and on the Quidditch team. Despite their families’ closeness, George and Percy still bickered on occasion, but they were able to talk things out.

 

“Where’s my hug? I came all the way from New Zealand,” Charlie grumbled.

 

“I was getting to it,” George retorted. He came up and hugged his other brother. He and Angelina asked a few questions about New Zealand and the dragons.

 

Eventually, George noticed his son talking to Lucy.

 

“Lucy-Goosey!” He said. Lucy gave him a hug. “You look like we put your grandma through a stretching machine.” Lucy did look quite a bit like Grandma Molly, but much taller.

 

“And you look more Van Gogh-like than normal,” Lucy quipped, pointing to George’s clipped beard. Percy snorted.

 

“I don’t get it,” George said.

 

“Did you not take Muggle studies?” Lucy asked.

 

“I did. I just slept a fair bit in that class. That’s all,” George admitted.

 

“He’s a famous Muggle artist!” Lucy cried, “How do you not know who he is?! He made _Starry Night_.”

 

George shook his head. Angelina looked like she was on the verge of bursting out laughing.

 

“Vincent Van Gogh is a Muggle artist who did a lot of paintings with a lot of bright colors and fancy brushwork,” Percy said, “He had red hair and a beard and he cut off one of his own ears.”

 

“ _Ohhh_ ,” George said finally getting it, “That’s clever. That’s a smart joke.”

 

“Thank you,” Lucy said.

 

“I’m going to pop in the kitchen and say hello to the two Mollies. Be right back,” George said.

 

“Freddy, let’s say hello to your grandma,” Angelina said as she followed George. Freddy followed her.

 

A couple of the Weasleys now opted to sit down. While they waited for George’s family to return, Oliver spoke up, “Does anyone know if anyone has any pranks planned? Or if they’re testing new Wheezes? I’m not going to fall for anything this year.”

 

Arthur shook his head. Charlie shrugged.

 

“You know I would tell you if I knew anything, Pops,” Lucy said.

 

“You know my rule,” Percy said to his husband, “I don’t take anything from George or Ron unless I know in advance what they’re giving to me. I’m careful around James and sometimes Freddy if he’s acting suspicious.”

 

“Well, I think Roxy’s determined to tell Mols all the Hufflepuff gossip from this year,” George said as he came back from the kitchen.

 

“Really?” Charlie asked, “She’s always so quiet.”

 

“It’s a trap,” Freddy said, “She hears and sees _all_. But she only tells a select few. She never tells me anything.”

 

“That’s because you have a platform to talk,” Lucy said.

 

“I don’t share gossip during Quidditch commentary!” Freddy said. He was the commentator during Hogwarts’ Quidditch games. Lee Jordan had even taken Freddy under his wing and was tutoring him about radio. Freddy’s dream was to work at the Wizarding Wireless Network.

 

Most of the people in the room voiced disagreement. Freddy had a habit of slipping random bits of gossip or embarrassing information about his family during his commentary. Usually by accident. Usually.

 

“OK, fine,” Freddy admitted defeat.

 

“All I have to say about Roxy is at least she isn’t gossiping around and causing drama,” Angelina said.

 

“She and Lily cause drama all the time,” George said.

 

“At least it’s about things like freeing House Elves and speaking truth to power,” Angelina said. Roxy had reinvigorated her Aunt Hermione’s S.P.E.W club to much better success than Hermione ever had. She was also much like her own mother because she wasn’t afraid to call-out sexism.

 

“Fair.”

 

“Who does everyone think is going to be the last to arrive?” Charlie asked.

 

“It’s always the Potters,” Percy said, “Other than literal life-or-death situations, Harry is always running late.”

 

“Counter-point,” George said, “Hermione is Minister and always overworks and doesn’t realize it. And Ron is shite about remembering when things are.”

 

Freddy said, “I have to agree with Uncle Percy, Rose is crazy organized and she _will_ push- like literally push- her parents and Hugo to arrive on time. I can’t say the same about any of the Potter kids. I love him, but James is lazy-brilliant but lazy- so he doesn’t care about time. Albus is quiet, so he won’t say anything. And Lily will be doing who knows what.”

 

“That doesn’t matter if Gin is always on top of things,” George said.

 

“What about Bill’s family?” Charlie pointed out, “If they’ve been traveling, they could be running behind and-“

 

A flash of green flames enveloped the fireplace. Bill stepped out.

 

“Well, speak of the devil,” George said. Angelina elbowed him.

 

“What, were you guys talking about me?” Bill asked.

 

“Maybe,” Charlie said.

 

“Charlie!” Bill greeted his younger brother, “I missed you!” As Bill went around greeting everyone, the rest of his family stepped out of the fireplace, including Teddy Lupin.

 

Greetings were exchanged by all. Lucy gave directions on where to put the different presents. As the number of guests grew, smaller groups began to form. Dominique grabbed Lucy to chat, presumably about Ravenclaw gossip or Head Girl duties. Louis followed along with them. Fleur went to the kitchen with the food she made. Arthur also went into the kitchen to talk to his wife. Victoire, Teddy, Freddy, Oliver, and Angelina formed their own group to discuss Quidditch. The four brothers were left with each other.

 

“Can I just say,” Bill said during a discussion of a trip to his in-laws, “how much of a mad genius you are, Percy? What you have done with the Wizarding trains is absolutely brilliant. I’d much rather take the train to France than a portkey. And the kids and Fleur prefer it too.”

 

“Thank you,” Percy said, “You have no idea how hard it was.”

 

Revamping the Wizarding train systems had been Percy’s pet project when he became Head of Magical Transportation. Other than the Hogwarts Express, trains were only used for certain special events. Percy wanted to change that. One of the biggest complaints he got working in the Department of Magical Transportation was that there was no way to get to get to the other parts of Europe other than Portkeys or Muggle transportation. Portkey-sickness was a serious issue. There were also a number of other issues Portkeys caused: unreliability, exact timing, risk of Muggles touching them, and the dangers of use for the elderly, pregnant, and disabled. Muggle transportation wasn’t much better. Some of the more eccentric wizards were a risk to the Statute of Secrecy. Percy took inspiration from both the Muggle’s Channel Tunnel and the European Wizarding Train Network on the European mainland. Most of the major train stations in the UK got their own concealed platforms and they expanded the Channel Tunnel to have concealed tracks for a few Wizarding trains. It involved a lot of planning, campaigning for public approval, international co-operation, and clever magic. Percy practically didn’t sleep for two years.

 

“Don’t stroke Percy’s ego,” George said, “We don’t want to give him an even bigger head.” George winked at Percy. Percy rolled his eyes.

 

“Hey!” argued Charlie, “Give Percy credit where credit is due. He _should_ be proud of that. None of us could have done that.”

 

“I was joking!” George responded.

 

“Don’t joke about people’s biggest professional accomplishments,” Bill said, “It makes you look like an arse.”

 

“Well, he always looks like an arse.” Everyone turned around to see Ron. Apparently, they had missed his entrance during their brief argument.

 

“Ronniekins!” Charlie yelled.

 

“Hey, you giant lug. I see the dragons haven’t burnt you alive yet,” Ron said, going up to hug Charlie.

 

“And he still has all his limbs!” George pointed out.

 

“Missing part of one of his eyebrows, though,” Percy said.

 

“Am I?” Charlie asked, touching his face.

 

“Yeah, the tail on the right one looks a bit singed,” Percy said.

 

“And no one told me?”

 

“You didn’t know already?” Bill asked.

 

“Yeah, you haven’t looked in a mirror in a few days?” Percy added.

 

“Oh well,” Charlie shrugged, “It’ll grow back.”

 

“Good to see you haven’t changed,” Ron said, “Does anyone know when dinner is?”

 

“Speaking of never changing,” George muttered to Percy. Bill must have overheard because he snorted.

 

“We’ve been doing this for _how long_ , Ron?” Percy asked, “First, the Potters have to get here. Then, the kids do their gift exchange and _then_ it’s dinner.”

 

Ron rolled his eyes.

 

While the rest of the Weasleys waited on Ginny and her family, more milling about happened. Roxy and Molly II actually made an appearance out of the kitchen. Molly mentioned to Percy that cooking was pretty much done and Gran had put wards on the food. Then, the two Hufflepuffs joined the three Ravenclaws in conversation. Rose was asking Victoire a million questions about her medical training. Hugo practically tackled Charlie in excitement. No one was exactly sure if he was just still in his dragon phase or not, but Hugo was really interested in magical creatures. At most family events, he complained loudly to anyone who would listen that it wasn’t fair that he had to wait to take Care of Magical Creatures until next year. Percy ended up talking to Hermione, Arthur, and Fleur- who worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation- about work.

 

At a quarter to four, Ginny Potter popped out of the fireplace.

 

“Sorry we’re late, everyone,” Ginny called out as she brushed off some ash off of her skirt, “There was an incident involving an exploding cake. Everyone is fine, but Harry is a bit miffed at James at the moment. And he had to remake the cake.” Ginny immediately turned to George and Ron, “Do _not_ encourage James today or I will Bat Bogey Hex you.”

 

James popped out of the fireplace next, looking quite pleased with himself. He sauntered over to greet Freddy. Lily was next, who ran over to Roxy and Louis. Percy could hear her tell them about what happened earlier that day. Albus followed his sister. He was smiling from ear to ear and rushed over to Lucy.

 

“I got a guitar for Christmas!” he practically yelled.

 

“Awesome!” Lucy high-fived him.

 

“And James got in trouble! It’s like a Christmas miracle!”

 

It was a bit weird to be happy for Albus, given the fact that it was partially about James getting in trouble, but Percy would be lying if said that James didn’t deserve it. Yes, he loved James.  He was actually a great kid. But, James could be exhausting and difficult to deal with on most days. He always had a lot of energy. He talked loud all the time. His main problem was carelessness. Sometimes his pranks went a little too far. Sometimes his jokes were hurtful. Percy didn’t know the details of the event, but Harry probably spent a lot of time and effort on that cake only to be destroyed.

 

Percy could tell Harry seemed to be in a bit of a mood once he popped out of the fireplace. He didn’t speak to anyone and went straight for the kitchen. Hermione and Percy looked at each other in concern.

 

“I’ll go talk to him,” Hermione sighed.

 

As concerned as he was, Percy still figured it was best if Hermione talked to Harry. They had seen each other at their worst. She could put things in a better perspective than he could. A bit of ruined cake wasn’t the end of the world. Percy also saw Ron make his way toward the kitchen. If anything else, if Hermione failed, Ron could probably improve Harry’s mood.

 

Albus suddenly appeared by Percy’s side. “Happy Christmas, Uncle Percy, Aunt Fleur, Granddad,” he said.

 

“Happy Christmas!” Arthur said.

 

“ _Joyeux No_ _ël_ ,” Fleur said.

 

“Happy Christmas, Albus,” Percy said, “Did you get that guitar?”

 

“Yes! I wish I brought it to show Lucy, but it’s, um, it’s really nice. It’s mainly black with some gray. I’ve already tuned it and strummed a little on it.”

 

“I’m pretty sure she helped your Dad picked it out,” Percy said, “But I’m happy to hear you like it.”

 

“I did not know you liked music, Albus,” Fleur said, “You should talk to Louis about frog choir.”

 

“Um, maybe,” Albus said, “I don’t really like being the center of attention, though.”

 

“I understand,” Fleur said, “But maybe you will find choir interesting. Louis is much shyer than his sisters and he likes it.”

 

“Did you know I was in frog choir?” Arthur asked.

 

Percy looked at his father in disbelief. Albus looked just as skeptical. “You were not,” Percy said.

 

“I mean, I wasn’t particularly good, mind you. I had trouble staying on beat, but they needed boys with a lower register and I fit the bill. It was fun,” Arthur said.

 

“You learn something new everyday,” Percy said to no one in particular.

 

“Dad!” Ginny shouted over everyone to Percy’s little group, “Mum wants to know where you put the camera! She wants it for Secret Santa!”

 

“Well, there’s never any rest around here, isn’t there?” Arthur asked good-naturedly, “Excuse me.”

 

Louis ran up to the group and spoke to his mother, “Mum, where did we put our Secret Santa presents? It’s about to start.”

 

“Is it not on the table where your cousin said to put them?” Fleur asked.

 

Louis shook his head no.

Fleur sighed. “Let us look in the bag.” She and Louis walked away.

 

“I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

 

Percy turned around to find Harry Potter standing behind him.

 

“No, you’re good,” Percy said, “Secret Santa is about to start though. Mum should start calling the kids up any moment now.”

 

Harry nodded. “Albus, do you have your present?” Harry asked his son.

 

“Lucy took it to put it on the table with the others,” Albus said.

 

Percy could hear his mother trying to speak up, “Kids! Kids! Time for Secret Santa!” Some of the closer people could hear her, but there were a few loud groups not paying attention.

 

A sharp whistle cut through the room. Everyone turned their heads to the source. “Oi!” Oliver shouted from his place next to his mother-in-law, “Listen to the woman!”

 

“Thank you, Ollie, dear,” Molly said, “It’s time for Secret Santa!”

 

As the younger generation of Weasleys ran up to get a good seat- preferably not on the floor- the adults milled in around them. Grandma Molly was making the final touches to the stack of presents while Arthur was haphazardly taking photographs.

 

“Sorry for rushing in earlier,” Harry whispered to Percy, “I was mad at James for ruining my dessert and I had to remake it quickly and I didn’t want to yell at anyone else-“

 

“You’re fine,” Percy butt in, “Ginny gave us a heads up when she came in. Are you better now?”

 

“Yeah,” Harry said, “Still a bit annoyed though.”

 

“I get it,” Percy said, “Lucy woke us up with the bagpipes.”

 

“Oof.”

 

“It makes her happy though,” Percy said shrugging.

 

“Love, do you have the camera?” Oliver popped up next to Percy.

 

“Yeah,” Percy said digging it out of his bag, “Somehow the girls didn’t grab it from me.”

 

“Do you want me to take pictures? Or do you want to do it?” Oliver asked.

 

“I can do it,” Percy said shrugging.

 

Oliver leaned into Percy’s side and whispered, “Are we sure getting your father that Muggle camera for Christmas was such a good idea?”

 

“I don’t know,” Percy whispered back, “But I’m sure he’ll enjoy himself. Even if he just takes pictures of the floor.”

 

“What are we whispering about?” Ron popped up behind them and asked.

 

“Dad’s camera techniques,” Percy said.

 

Ron chuckled.

 

“All right, everyone! We’re ready to start now,” Molly said from the middle of the circle of teenagers. She took a seat in a chair next to Lucy. “Arthur, could you please hand me the hat?”

 

Arthur handed Molly a beat-up witches’ hat. She stuck her hand inside and grabbed a piece of parchment. She unfurled it and read the name inside. “Albus gets to open his present first,” she said.

 

With a flick of her wand, a cleanly wrapped, long rectangular present rose from the pile and hovered toward Albus. Albus grabbed it and read the tag.

 

“Who’s it from?” shouted out George.

 

“Vic,” Albus said.

 

“Please be careful,” Victoire said from her spot on the floor, “It’s a bit fragile.”

 

Albus carefully unwrapped the paper and took off the box’s lid. He smiled softly when he saw what was inside. “It’s a telescope,” he said. He lifted it carefully out of the box. People oohed and ahhed. A couple of the adults snapped photographs. The telescope was quite beautiful. Percy couldn’t see what it was made out of, but the body of it was black and it had some green detailing around it.

 

“Thank you, Vic,” Albus said while putting it back in the box, “It’s lovely.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Vic said with a smile.

 

Molly reached into her hat again. “Hugo is next,” she called out.

 

Once the present reached Hugo, he practically ripped into it without abandon.

 

“Hugo!” Hermione called out, “Who’s it from?”

 

Hugo looked around for the tag but couldn’t find it. A couple people, including Harry and Percy, were laughing. It was very Ron.

 

“It’s from me!” Lucy called out, eager to continue on with the event.

 

Hugo went back to opening his present. “Cool,” he said when the box was open, “It’s a hat and mittens and they look like scales!” The yarn was a red ombre that really enhanced the dragon effect. Hugo put the hat on his head, showed it off to everyone, and ran up to Lucy and gave her a hug. “I love it, thank you!”

 

The next couple presents were less eventful. Rose got chaser gloves from Freddy. Louis gave James some styling mousse. Teddy Lupin received a puzzle box from Roxy.

 

Molly was called next. “Oh, it’s from Albus!” she said reading the tag, “You sneaky little Slytherin, no wonder you wouldn’t tell me.”

 

Albus gave a joking eye roll.

 

“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Persuasion,” Molly read the titles of the books, “I can’t wait to read these. Thank you, Albus.”

 

“Those are excellent choices,” Hermione said.

 

Lily, Roxy, and Freddy also received books from Rose, Lily, and Teddy, respectively. Dominique got a golden snitch necklace and earing set from James. Although they were both seekers for their respective house teams, it was hard to tell if this amused Dominique. Louis was much happier with the sketchbook and watercolor pencils he received from Molly.

 

Lucy had the penultimate gift from Dominique. Lucy went wide-eyed when she opened it and saw a black, sparkly jumpsuit.

 

“I hope this fits my legs,” Lucy joked.

 

“It should,” Dominique said, “I have all your measurements. I made it myself. I thought you needed a killer outfit to perform with your band. It’s a unique by Dominique.”

 

“Now _there’s_ a slogan,” Ron said. Percy couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm or not. Ron could go either way. Percy liked the slogan, though.

 

“Thank you, I’ve been working on it,” Dominique responded breezily with a smile. Dominique was very into fashion. She designed and sewed clothes for herself and others.

 

“Thank you, Nic,” Lucy said.

 

“That makes the last present for Victoire,” the younger Molly said, pointing at the final box.

 

Victoire didn’t bother waiting for the spell to send the present to her; she leaned over and grabbed it.

 

“Gee, I wonder who this is from,” she joked.

 

“It’s from me,” Hugo said. He appeared to be bouncing in his seat. Percy was worried that he would try to prank his oldest cousin, but that wasn’t really like Hugo. He was too sweet.

 

“It’s a scarf,” she said removing it from the box. It kept going. “A quite long scarf.” Eventually, the other end appeared. It looked big enough for Hagrid.

 

“I knit it myself!” Hugo said proudly. “I picked lavender because I know it’s your favorite color. Do you like it?”

 

“I love it,” Vic said and gave Hugo a hug.

 

A good portion of the room fawned over the cuteness of it all. More photos were taken.

 

“All right,” Grandma Molly said to the group of Weasley, “It’s about time for dinner. I am going to go back first and undo the wards on the food. _Please_ do not run or push or shove when you line up. There should be plenty of food for everyone. After dinner is photos, then presents, and then everyone can do whatever they wish. Percy has kindly brought some chess boards if anyone wants to play.”

 

“Ron isn’t allowed to play,” Oliver said. Percy was glad that Oliver said it and he didn’t have to.

 

“That’s not fair!” Ron argued.

 

“You’re only allowed to play if you don’t showboat around,” Percy said, “It doesn’t make it fun for the kids when you do that.”

 

“Or for the rest of us,” Bill yelled out.

 

“You are a bit of a ham, dear, when it comes to chess,” his mother pointed out.

 

“Fine,” Ron grumbled, “I’ll be on my best behavior. Not my fault the rest of you are so bad though.”

 

“Ron!” Hermione admonished.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Everyone let Molly get past them, but as soon as she reached the kitchen, there was a mad dash by some of the more reckless Weasleys. Percy noticed his entire family kept at a sane pace.

 

As soon as he picked out his food, Percy had a difficult choice to make: where to sit. If he made the wrong choice, he was likely to suffer a headache the rest of the night. He stood in the living room, trying to make a decision. The kitchen table probably wasn’t the best idea. Any table with his daughter Molly _and_ James was likely to get loud. Molly enjoyed taunting James with the fact Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor for the Quidditch Cup last year. James too easily took the bait. Fortunately, Percy’s mother and Angelina were there to keep it from going too out of hand. The table in the living room closest to the kitchen already had Oliver, Harry, and Lily so it wasn’t a bad choice. The other table in the living room just had Freddy and Dominique so far.

 

“Hey Perce,” Ginny said from behind him, “Come sit with me and Albus. We’re going over to that table with Freddy and Nic.”

 

Percy smiled and nodded. He was glad to be included. Besides, he could tell what Ginny was doing. From talking to her, she also thought he was a good mentor to Albus. And of all the tables so far, the one with just Freddy and Nic seemed like the less stressful to Albus. James was already seated and they fought _a lot_. Albus seemed to get on a lot better with Lily, but she and Harry were also already seated and they all lived together. From what Percy saw, Albus got on well with Freddy when he wasn’t around James. He wasn’t sure about how well Albus got on with Dominique though.

 

“Hey kids, mind if we sit with you?” Ginny asked when they reached the table.

 

“Sure, Aunt Ginny,” Freddy said.

 

Ginny and Albus sat across from Dominique and Freddy. Percy decided to sit next to Freddy. Lucy had apparently followed along and sat next to Albus.

 

“Please promise me we won’t talk about Quidditch at this table,” Lucy said, “Everyone else is and it’s too much.”

 

“I agree with Lucy,” Albus piped up.

 

Dominique turned to Freddy, who shrugged. “I’m OK with that,” Dominique said, “I know I play it, but I get sick of everyone talking about it too.”

 

“This looks like the cool table. Can I join?” Bill said with a smile and sat down next to Percy.

 

“I think you don’t know what ‘cool’ means, Uncle Bill,” Albus said.

 

“Bill just wishes he was as cool as us,” Ginny said with a wink. Bill stuck his tongue out at her. Percy chuckled. Bill was probably the coolest one of all.

 

“I like to think of this as the chill table,” Freddy said, “Most of us aren’t cool, but we’re chill.”

 

Hermione appeared at the table next. “Well, this looks like a relatively sane table. Mind if I sit?”

 

“Go ahead, Minister,” Ginny said.

 

Everyone ate for a few moments before Nic spoke. “Al, did you like the telescope?”

 

“Yeah,” Albus said with a smile, “I really did. I can’t wait to use it in Astronomy.”

 

“Good,” Dominique said, “I’m glad you liked it. I spent days helping Vic try to decide what to get you. She almost got you a fancy star map to help with astrology and stuff.”

 

“That would have been cool too,” Albus responded.

 

“Albus, please tell me you haven’t gotten into Divination,” Hermione sighed. Percy bristled. He was ready to fight.

 

“Sorry, Aunt Hermione. Can’t tell you that,” Albus said.

 

“But why Divination? It’s a load of bunk. It doesn’t make any sense. How can anyone see the future?” Hermione asked.

 

Percy decided to speak up: “In case you’ve forgotten, Hermione, we have magic. Everything doesn’t have to make sense. I can conjure up flowers from my wand for goodness sake! Divination is one of the oldest forms of magic. It’s a skill that takes a lot of practice and, admittedly, some natural talent. You can’t just discount an entire field of magic. You have to be open to it.”

 

This was an old argument Percy and Hermione had. Neither of them could truly change the other’s mind.

 

Hermione turned to her other brother-in-law. “What about you, Bill? What do you think? You’re an Arithmancy person,” she said.

 

“Personally?” Bill said, “I’m kind of in between on this issue. While I personally prefer Arithmancy, there are some people-and creatures- who have some definite skill in Divination.”

 

“But, come on, you truly believe that Trelawny can see the future?” Hermione asked.

 

“Yes, I do,” Bill said, “I think she might not be as talented as she claimed to be- and she’s probably lied on occasion- but I don’t doubt she is a Seer. She did make two accurate prophecies.”

 

“But visions?” Hermione goaded further.

 

Percy decided to speak up again. “You can’t just turn visions and prophecies on and off. Things like tealeaves and astrology are things that most everyone can do, provided you are in tune with the world around you and have interpretation skills. But real visions and prophecies are natural gifts that come to you. I don’t _any_ of us think Trelawny was ever good at examining her visions accurately, but she has had them.”

 

“Perce is right,” Bill said, “I have a friend who is a Seer. And she’s described what it’s like. Visions aren’t what you think they are. They’re a lot more fluid.”

 

“As fascinating as this conversation is,” Ginny said, “can we please stop? I think it’s just going in circles and will never end. It’s been this way for _years_.”

 

“Fine,” Percy and Hermione both said.

 

“ _Albus_ ,” Dominique drawled out, “I’ve heard you’ve been getting guitar lessons from Brandon Lee. Is that true?”

 

Freddy and Lucy immediately turned to Albus as well. Albus hunched over a bit more.

 

“ _That’s_ who you’ve been learning guitar from?!” Lucy gasped.

 

“Yeah, I don’t see why that’s a big deal,” Albus mumbled, “Or how you heard about it.”

 

“Scorpius told me when we were doing rounds together,” Dominique said.

 

“Brandon’s like one of the coolest people at Hogwarts,” Freddy said.

 

“And one of the hottest,” Dominique added.

 

Percy turned to Bill and whispered, “Do you know who this kid is?”

 

“You know mine and Charlie’s friends in Charlie’s year?” Bill asked.

 

“Yes,” Percy said.

 

“Remember the Slytherin in that group? Barnaby?”

 

“The really dumb but kind of cute one?”

 

“Yep. And the girl whose brother went missing searching for the Cursed Vaults so _she_ went searching for the Cursed Vaults?”

 

“Of course,” Percy said. Who could forget her?

 

“He’s their youngest,” Bill said, “Good kid.”

 

“Oh,” Percy said, “Got it.”

 

Percy turned back to the conversation.

 

“-really not that big a deal, guys,” Albus was saying.

 

“He must think you’re cool if he’s been teaching you guitar,” Freddy pointed out, “He doesn’t really do that.”

 

“Maybe. I don’t now. He’s just nice,” Albus said, slightly flustered, “How’s Wales, Lucy?”

 

Lucy began talking about her conservatory, the music she was working on, and her band. Percy was thankful that Lucy gladly took the quaffle on that one. Albus was clearly uncomfortable by Dominique and Freddy’s line of questioning. Percy would have stepped in if Albus hadn’t changed the subject. He was sure Dominique and Freddy didn’t mean too much by it, probably.

 

The conversation went back and forth from there. Dominique and Bill got to talk about their trip to France. Hermione asked the two seventh-years about their upcoming N.E.W.T.s and their plans for after graduation. Ginny complained about having to work with Rita Skeeter again, which got all the adults to share their own Rita Skeeter stories. She would not leave them alone.

 

As dinner wore down and Christmas crackers were opened, people slowly started gravitating toward the tree for photos and presents. Several staged photos were taken with everyone in their Weasley sweaters. Some of the Weasleys tried to spell out rude words with their sweaters, but both Molly and Percy had caught them before photos were taken.

 

Presents were always the longest part of the Weasley Christmas dinner. It could have been worse. Presents were only given by entire families, so each person wasn’t getting twenty-four presents. Instead, everyone got around six. Earlier in the week, Percy had convinced everyone to let Grandma Molly open her present from Percy’s family last.

 

Presents were given out. From Molly and Arthur, everyone got a book relevant to their interests. All of Charlie’s presents were things he found in New Zealand. Bill and Fleur gave everyone foreign candies. There were a lot of jokes about Percy and Oliver’s decision to give everyone journals or planners. Both George and Ron’s families gave almost everyone Weasley Wizard Wheezes products. However, clearly Hermione had stepped in on a few people’s presents- mainly some of the adults- and gotten them sweets instead. Percy was just thankful his family did not receive any pranks. He, Oliver, and their daughters never had much use for them. For the kids, Harry and Ginny either gave them Quidditch gear or something related to one of their hobbies. The adults received fun socks.

 

“Ooh, what is this, Percy?” Arthur asked when he opened his present. “It looks like a form of camera.” Both Harry and Hermione perked up when they saw it.

 

“It’s called a Polaroid camera, Granddad,” Molly II explained, “It’s an old Muggle thing.”

 

“Take a photo with it,” Lucy said, barely containing giggles.

 

“How about one of you two?” Arthur suggested.

 

Molly and Lucy posed next to each other. Right before Arthur clicked the button, Lily and Roxy jumped into frame.

 

Arthur seemed startled by the piece of photo paper that popped out of the camera. He took it and looked at it. “It’s a dark square,” he said, fascinated.

 

“It takes a couple minutes to develop,” Hermione said.

 

“You have to shake it,” Harry said.

 

“Actually, you don’t,” Hermione corrected, “That’s just with the oldest versions. Shaking can actually cause damage.”

 

“Oh, the colors are changing!” Arthur said, “Look Molly!” He showed the still developing photograph to his wife.

 

“How fascinating!” Molly said.

 

“There the girls are!” Arthur exclaimed. He showed the photograph to the circle. The group awed at the changing colors.

 

“Where did you find this?” Charlie asked.

 

“I found it in a Muggle second-hand shop,” Oliver said, “I remembered one of the Muggle-born students at Hogwarts had one and I thought Arthur might like it. Mols had to help me find the right film for it. She’s good at the internet.”

 

“We have some more film for when you run out,” Percy explained to his dad.

 

Arthur acknowledged he heard his son, but was examining the camera.

 

“Mum’s got the last present,” Ron said.

 

Molly picked up her final present. “It’s a little heavy,” she noted with a smile.

 

Percy gripped onto Oliver’s arm in suspense. Oliver bounced on his own heels in excitement.

 

Molly carefully unwrapped the present. “It appears to be some sort of book,” she said when most of the paper was gone.

 

“Open it!” the younger Molly squealed.

 

“Oh! It’s a photo album!” the older Molly said when she opened the cover, “A rather fancy photo album. Look at all these colors.” She began flipping through the pages.

 

“It’s what the Muggles call a ‘scrapbook’,” Percy explained, “It’s like a regular photo album, but with colorful paper, notes, newspaper clippings, stickers, other little odd and ends. The girls got the idea from Audrey and Felicity.”

 

Once Molly and Lucy saw the Bloomingfeld-Simons’s scrapbook, they decided the Weasleys _had_ to have a family one. It was better than some tapestry like the House of Black’s. And Gran would love it. Percy was a bit hesitant at first, mainly because he was scared some of the dark memories might return, but Oliver promised that they’d work on it together so Percy wouldn’t be alone. It was a huge effort, but being the Weasley-Woods, the four of them attacked it with vigor. They had to search among their own things, but Percy being a organized pack rat helped them with that. He kept newspaper clippings of important things his family did as well as photographs and other memorabilia. Whatever they didn’t have, they asked around for. Arthur even let them go through the stuff in the attic while he and Molly were away on a visit to Charlie. Putting it together, the four of them had decided not to include the more horrific stuff- Bill’s werewolf attack, a good portion of the Triwizard Tournament, most of the war stuff, etc. While there was a time and a place to discuss evil things in the world, a family scrapbook was not one of those. It was going to be good memories only.

 

“This has everyone in it! Little James and Albus, before Lily was born. Ginny’s first article. A couple of Louis’s drawings. Lucy at her first piano lesson. All the kids playing Quidditch in the garden. Oh! Pictures of you all as kids! Look, Arthur, a photo of Ron’s christening!” Molly said.

 

Molly stopped at one page further in the back. Tears were forming in her eyes. Percy could tell what it was.

 

“How did you get this photo? This one, of Gideon and Fabian and me at my wedding? I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

 

“Aunt Muriel,” Percy said proudly, “We got a lot out of her, surprisingly.”

 

“She really likes Puddlemere United. I had to promise her season tickets, but we did get things from her,” Oliver said shrugging, “I’m surprised too.”

 

“Wow, the old biddy actually has a heart somewhere,” George said.

 

“We asked around for other photos and memorabilia,” Percy said.

 

“And we gave them to him because we thought it was such a good idea,” Ginny said.

 

“Speak for yourself,” Ron said. Ginny immediately smacked him upside the head.

 

“Who did what?” Molly asked.

 

Oliver said, “I did a lot of pages of my generation.”

 

“We split our cousins,” Lucy said pointing to her sister.

 

“I did the few Oliver didn’t do, the older photos, and some of the larger family photos,” Percy said.

 

The scrapbook began to be passed around.

 

“How long did this take you guys?” Angelina asked in awe.

 

“We got the idea around Easter, if that gives you an idea,” Oliver said.

 

“I’m surprised this actually looks decent, especially Oliver’s pages. No offense, mate, but you’re not what I would call artistic,” George joked.

 

“He did color-code our entire Quidditch schedule, in case you forgot,” Harry said.

 

The nieces and nephews piled around the scrapbook and were laughing at the photos. Most of the adults chose to clean up the ruins of the wrapping paper. Percy walked over to his mum, knelt in front of her, and offered her a handkerchief. “You, all right, Mum?” he asked quietly. She was crying heavily.

 

“That is one of the nicest presents anyone has ever given me,” she said, wrapping her arms around Percy’s neck. Percy hugged her back.

 

“I know we didn’t have a lot of photos taken growing up, but I wanted to collect what I could and have them all in one place,” Percy explained.

 

“Well, I absolutely love it,” Molly said.

 

“Let me help you clean up the kitchen,” Percy offered.

 

“I won’t say no to that,” Molly laughed, “But the magic shouldn’t take too long.”

 

Percy led his mother to the kitchen, but Oliver, Angelina, and Harry were already cleaning up.

 

“Hey guys! Molly, we figured you already did so much, so we decided to help with the cleaning,” Angelina explained.

 

“Thank you so much, dears,” Molly said. She took a seat at the kitchen table.

 

The five of them chatted while the dishes cleaned themselves. They did have to figure out who brought what dish and what leftovers were there.

 

After a while, Albus and Lucy entered the kitchen. Albus was carrying the scrapbook.

 

“Some of the kids started playing Exploding Snap and Gobstones, so I figured you didn’t want this destroyed,” Albus explained as he placed it on the kitchen table.

 

“How thoughtful of you, Albus,” Percy said from his spot next his mother, “Did you have a chance to look at it?”

 

“I only saw a bit of it,” Albus said.

 

“Would you like to go through it with me?” Molly asked, “I primarily flipped through it.”

 

“Sure, Gran,” Albus said.

 

Lucy began digging through her bag for her instruments. “Any requests?” she asked.

 

“Which instruments did you bring?” Angelina asked.

 

“Guitar, violin, and hammered dulcimer,” she said.

 

“What’s the weirdest song you can do on the dulcimer?” Harry asked.

 

“Several. I can do several songs by like Adele or Elton John. _Everybody Wants to Rule the World_ by Tears for Fears. Lots of 70s or 80s music.”

 

“I’m quite fond of your rendition of _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_ ,” Percy said. He had a soft spot for Muggle music.

 

“Sir Elton it is then,” Lucy said with a smile, “Give me a sec to set up.”

 

As Lucy began performing, Molly began telling Albus the stories behind some of the photographs. The scrapbook started with larger family photos and then split into pages of individuals, starting with Bill and his family. Percy decided to keep photos of Molly and Arthur’s youth near the back as a surprise.

 

“Who’s this, Uncle Percy?” Albus asked, pointing to a Muggle photograph on one of Percy’s pages. He was on the Hogwarts Express Platform, standing next to a petite brunette girl with bobbed hair. She was wearing a floral print dress and a denim jacket. Neither of them were wearing their robes yet, but they were proudly holding out their Head Boy and Girl badges.

 

“That’s Audrey,” Percy said.

 

“Molly and Lucy’s mother?” Albus asked.

 

“Yes. She was Head Girl when I was Head Boy. Her mother insisted on taking that photo.”

 

“What’s with the waistcoat?” Albus asked, trying to hold in a laugh. The young version of Percy was wearing a hideous, bright patchwork-style waistcoat with a collared shirt and jeans.

 

“Let me see,” Angelina said.   She and Harry both leaned over Molly’s shoulders to look at the photograph. Oliver had already seen the photo so he didn’t bother, but he was smiling. Both Angelina and Harry cracked up.

 

“Ok, admittedly, it’s not the most fashionable thing,” Percy said, “I thought I looked cool at the time, but yes it looks bad now. I was trying my best Muggle fashion look, but Muggle fashion at that time was ridiculous. So was Wizard fashion, really. And we were trying to do our best with not much money.”

 

“It’s OK, Percy,” Harry said, “I’m sure there’s some pretty bad photos of me in there.”

 

“Oh, the 90s,” Angelina sighed.

 

Albus flipped to the next page.

 

“That’s a cute photo of you two,” Albus said pointing to a photo.

 

“I like that one,” Molly agreed.

 

“Which one?” Oliver asked. He was a bit further away from the rest.

 

“You and Percy and the Quidditch Cup,” Angelina said.

 

“Ah. The day we finally won the Qudditch Cup. It’s one of the happiest days of my life,” Oliver said. Percy rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. That was a good day.

 

“Hey!” Lucy called out, stopping her playing, “Shouldn’t that be me and Molly being born?”

 

“Or our wedding?” Percy asked.

 

“I said _one of,”_ Oliver defended, “It goes: birth of my children, marrying the love of my life, Gryffindor winning the Cup, Puddlemere winning the cup the first time. See, I have my priorities sorted.”

 

“Sure you do,” Harry snarked.

 

“Got something to say Potter?” Oliver asked. Percy could tell Oliver was joking, but Harry seemed alarmed.

 

Before Harry could dig himself out of the hole he was digging, Ron popped his head into the kitchen. “Aren’t we going to play chess sometime tonight?”

 

“You can grab my chessboards. They’re up in my old room on the desk,” Percy said.

 

Ron groaned. “Do I have to go up there?”

 

“You can go up there now or you can wait. It’s your choice,” Percy said.

 

“Quit being lazy, Ron,” Harry said, “A couple stairs won’t kill you.”

 

“But I’ve done so much today!” Ron whined, flopping into a kitchen chair.

 

“And the rest of us have been laying a bout?” Angelina said, “You’re a parent. It’s Christmas. That’s how it is.”

 

“Honestly,” the eldest Mrs. Weasley said.

 

“I can do it, if it will make Uncle Ron be quiet,” Albus said getting up.

 

“No, Ron can do it,” Percy said. He stared Ron down.

 

Ron relented. “ _Fine_ ,” he sighed and left to get the chess sets.

 

“Thank you!” Percy yelled out. Percy swore he could hear cursing under Ron’s breath.

 

“How did you do that?” Albus asked.

 

“You have to prove to Ron that you’re more stubborn than he is if you want him to do something,” Percy said, “It doesn’t always work.”

 

“Mom!” Roxy called from the living room, “James and Freddy are being mean to me!”

 

Angelina looked at Harry. “What to help me see what that’s about?” she asked.

 

“Sure,” Harry said.

 

Dominique and Louis passed them as they left.

 

“Rumor has it that this is where chess is going to be,” Dominique said.

 

Percy nodded. “I only brought two sets though, so we’re going to have to take turns.”

 

“Your father has a set in the living room. Let me get it,” Molly said. She left the kitchen.

 

Louis said, “We can take turns if we need to.”

 

“I’m hiding out in here,” Roxy said while entering the kitchen, “James and Freddy are purposely playing Exploding Snap too close to me.”

 

“You can join us for chess, if you want,” Albus said.

 

“OK!” Roxy said.

 

“You know what,” Oliver said getting up, “It’s getting a bit packed in here, so I’m going to go bother Charlie.” He gave Percy a kiss on the cheek and wished him good luck. He waved to the rest as he stepped out.

 

Louis walked over to Lucy and asked if she could play something. Lucy seemed more than happy to oblige.

 

“Mum gave me a third board,” Ron said as he entered the kitchen, “How many players do we have?”

 

Percy counted the assembled group. He didn’t count his daughter because he knew she wouldn’t play. “Six,” he said.

 

They split into duos: Percy and Albus, Roxy and Louis, and Dominique and Ron. Percy and Albus played pretty casually, using their game as an opportunity to chat. Roxy and Louis were just playing for fun and messed with each other the entire time. Dominique and Ron were playing to win. Despite Ron’s efforts, Dominique was putting up a strong fight. She did lose though. Once they were done, both Ron and Nic provided commentary and advice for the other games. Ron also tried singing along with Lucy’s playing and would make up words when he didn’t know the songs. Roxy barely squeaked out a win over Louis. Albus somehow beat Percy, but Percy was OK with that.

 

Eventually, Ron got dragged into something by George and left the kitchen. Roxy and Dominique lazily played chess against each other and chatted with Percy. Louis drew in his sketchbook. Lucy was going over guitar chords with Albus.

 

“You know,” Albus said, “I was dreading this Christmas, but it’s been pretty good.”

 

“Your problem, Al, is that you hang around the Gryffindors too much by default. But you finally joined the cool group this year,” Dominique said surveying the board.

 

“Yeah, if your brother or whoever gives you shit, you can go to me, Molly, or Nic and we’ll protect you,” Lucy said, “And this goes for you two too, Roxy and Louis.”

 

“Vic and Teddy obviously will help too,” Dominique added.

 

“And me,” Percy added, “And most of the adults.”

 

“Freddy means well,” Roxy piped up, “But certain people influence his bad behaviors.”

 

“Well, I think that is true for everyone in the family,” Lucy said, “But, yeah, if you put Freddy, James, and Rose together it’s _a lot_. Especially if you add Lily on top of that. If you’ve noticed, Molly tries to act as a mediator and Nic, I think you do too.”

 

“Yeah, and it’s exhausting,” Dominique said, “Sometimes I need to spend time with the less intense people. I don’t know how Molly does it.”

 

“You’ll notice when Molly is tired of it when she goes to hang out with Angelina, Ginny, Charlie, or Oliver,” Percy said. Like his other daughter, he noticed Molly’s behavior too. Basically, she’d join any of the adults once the loudness got too much for her.

 

“So, basically, how to survive a Weasley event is to know who to hang out with?” Albus asked.

 

“Exactly,” Percy said, “And it can vary on how people are acting that day.”

 

“And if _any_ of you ever need help at school, come find me,” Dominique said, “Makeovers, dating problems, bullies, school work, whatever. Don’t be afraid to ask. And Albus, I’m really sorry I wasn’t there for you in the past few years. I had no idea what was going on. I was more worried about that one,” She pointed toward her brother, “But please, don’t hesitate to find me if you want to talk. I know I’m Head Girl, but I’ll always make time for you.”

 

“Me too!” Roxy said, “Well, not about the Head Girl thing, but I’m always ready to lend an ear.”

 

“And me,” Louis said.

 

“And I’m only an owl away,” Lucy said, “And so is Molly.”

 

Albus acted very bashful. “Um, thanks guys. I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Percy was very touched by his nieces, nephew, and daughter’s wiliness to help Albus. Before he could say anything about it, there was a suddenly large amount of shouting coming from the living room. It didn’t sound like they were being attacked, but it didn’t sound good. Percy grabbed his wand and headed slowly toward the living room, just in case. He could hear all the kids were creeping up behind him.

 

Once they reached the living room, they could see what all the fuss was about. No, there were no Death Eaters bent on revenge. George and Ron had pulled a prank. Multiple members of the Weasley family were sporting brightly colored hair. The usual reds, blondes, brown, and black hairs were replaced with hot pink, violet, electric blue, lime green. Oliver, Rose, James, Hermione, and Harry seemed visibly annoyed by their new coifs. Half of them were yelling at Ron and George. Molly II, Lily, Freddy, Fleur, and Victoire didn’t seem to mind. Everyone else had been spared.

 

“Dare I ask what is going on?” Percy asked the person closest to him, Charlie.

 

“George and Ron got Hugo to pass out these chocolates and because it was Hugo, people actually accepted it. And then, their hair slowly began to change color,” Charlie explained.

 

“You know what? It could be worse,” Percy said. He actually found it a bit funny. “I’m going to see what I can do to stop them from killing those two idiots.”

 

Oliver was on the edge of the group, looking at himself in a makeup compact that Percy assumed Ginny gave to him as she was standing nearby.

 

“Oh, Pops,” Lucy said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh, “Lime green really isn’t your color.”

 

“The team is going to give me so much shit for this,” Oliver moaned, “Why couldn’t it have been like dark blue?”

 

“I still think you’re handsome,” Percy said to his husband.

 

It was a clear lie. The lime green Oliver had was clearly the worst in the room. And Oliver knew. “You are such a terrible liar,” Oliver said, “But thanks.”

 

“What do you mean _Colovaria_ won’t work?!” Rose yelled at her father. Percy didn’t think her hot pink hair looked bad, but Rose was a big perfectionist.

 

“It wouldn’t be a good joke product if you could change it back right away,” Ron said.

 

“How long _does_ it last?” Harry asked. His hair was bright blue.

 

“About a week,” George said, “Our employees tried it out first and that’s about how long it took for their hair to get back to normal.”

 

“I wouldn’t use Muggle hair dye to fix it,” Ron said, “It kind of messes when your hair will get back to normal.”

 

“ _Merlin_ ,” Hermione muttered.

 

Molly II popped up next to her dads and sister. Her brunette hair was now purple. “I actually like it,” she said, “It’s a good option if you don’t want to focus on a _Colovaria_ spell and want something less permanent.”

 

“So you think maybe we could sell it as a beauty project instead of a prank, Mols?” George asked.

 

“I mean, either could work,” she said, “Bold hair is kind of in right now.”

 

“Let’s make a note of that, Ron, when we go into market research,” George said.

 

Angelina came up and spoke quietly to her husband. It looked like she had already gathered everything, including their children. Angelina was excellent at crisis management.

 

“Well, everyone, I think it’s time for us to head out,” George said loudly to the entire room, “Let me know if anyone gets any weird side effects!”

 

After George, Angelina, Freddy, and Roxy left, everyone else slowly filtered out. There were several promises to see each other on New Year’s Eve and other events. Charlie, the Weasley-Woods, and the Potters were the last ones left other than Molly and Arthur.

 

“Are you _sure_ you don’t want us to help finish the clean up?” Percy asked.

 

“Go home,” Ginny said, “I know you’ve done most of the set up. And we were late, so it’s only right for us to clean up. It’s just the chairs and tables left, really.” Percy opened his mouth to argue more, but Ginny insisted. “ _Go home_. There will be plenty of other events you can fuss over later.”

 

“Fine,” Percy said.

 

It took a moment to gather up his family. Lucy was talking to Albus about guitar lessons over the rest of the holiday, but eventually the conversation reached a natural stopping point. They all said their goodbyes and headed back home.

 

As soon as the girls got out of the Floo, they ran to their own rooms. Percy and Oliver lingered behind.

 

“Other than the hair thing, this wasn’t a bad Christmas,” Oliver said.

 

“Yeah. It actually turned out rather well.”

 

“You look knackered,” Oliver said, brushing one of Percy’s errant curls, “Want me to draw you a bubble bath?”

 

“Yes, please. And maybe we can see what to do about your hair.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope everyone liked this chapter, even if it was a bit long. It was a bit more experimental. I wanted to explore relationships between the other Weasleys and both Albus and Percy, in addition to some of my headcanons . I promise the rest of the work will pretty much be actual tea times between Percy and Albus.


	4. Apple and Blueberry Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a bit! I've been working on this piece, applying for jobs, and am in a Shakespeare production right now, so I'm pretty busy.
> 
> Thank you for all of your kind words and encouragement! I really hope you all like this chapter!
> 
> As always, I do not own these characters. This also hasn't been beta'd or Brit picked, so mistakes are my own.

Normally, Albus would stay at Hogwarts for Easter holidays. As much as he loved his parents, the cons beat out the positives. Eyes were constantly on him on the train platform. The eyes were followed by whispers. It was one thing to think people were talking about you; it was another to _know_ people were. The same thing happened whenever he went out in the Wizarding World. It was awful. His parents usually worked during Easter holidays, so he hardly saw them anyways. However, this Easter was an emergency. He had to talk to someone.

 

See, Albus had a problem. It wasn’t schoolwork or family issues. Scorpius couldn’t solve it. Nor could his cousins or siblings. Or at least, he just wasn’t ready yet for them to know about this particular problem. There was really only one person he trusted to help. Well, maybe two.

 

This is how Albus found himself taking the Floo to his Uncle Percy’s house the Saturday of Easter holidays.

 

When he stepped out the fireplace, no one was around. However, Albus could definitely hear the sound of footsteps and music playing from a room upstairs, so someone had to be home.

 

“Hello? Uncle Percy? Uncle Oliver?” Albus called out from the base of the stairs, “Is anyone here?”

 

The footsteps were moving now. Percy appeared at the top of the stairs. “Albus is that you?” Percy asked as he walked down the steps. “I didn’t know you were coming over. You should have told me. I would have prepared a snack or something for you.”

 

“Hi, Uncle Percy,” Albus said when Percy finally reached the landing. He was wearing joggers and a faded Holyhead Harpies t-shirt. His glasses seemed a bit foggy from sweat. “Is this a bad time?”

 

“No,” Percy said, “Oliver and I were just doing some spring cleaning. We could probably use a break.”

 

“Perce, who’s here?” Oliver called out from upstairs.

 

“Albus!” Percy yelled back, “I’m going to make some tea if you want any!”

 

“Be right down!”

 

Albus followed Percy over to the kitchen and took a seat at the table as Percy dug through cabinets for mugs and tea.

 

“I was thinking of making some fruit tea, if that’s all right,” Percy said, “Apple and blueberry?”

 

“That’s fine,” Albus said quietly. He was barely paying attention to what Percy was doing, he was so nervous. He had been sitting on this problem for a while and it was eating him up. A couple of times, he considered writing for Percy’s help- he had written his uncle a few times in the months since Christmas holidays- but writing it out didn’t seem right. What if other people saw it?

 

“Albus, are you okay?” Percy asked.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You seem a bit out of it. And you haven’t responded to my earlier question. Are you all right?” With his soft eyes and furrowed brow, Percy looked incredibly concerned.

 

“I’m fine,” Albus evaded, “Just got lost in my own thoughts. What did you want to know?”

 

Percy didn’t look entirely convinced, but he continued. “I asked if either of your siblings came home for holiday?”

 

“Um, Lily did. I think she’s trying to convince my parents to get her a new broom or something. James stayed at the castle. N.E.W.T.s panic and all.”

 

“Good to see you, kiddo!” Oliver said as he stepped into the kitchen, “Sorry for taking a moment. I had to clean some dust off of me. We’re cleaning out the attic.” He went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a package of jaffa cakes and brought it to the table. The lime green hair from George and Ron’s Christmas prank was finally gone and replaced by Oliver’s normal brown hair and greying temples. Like Percy, he was dressed in old athletic clothes.

 

Albus was honestly kind of relieved that Oliver came in at that moment. He could deflect for a moment longer.

 

“Hey, Uncle Oliver,” Albus said, “Shouldn’t you have practice today? Or a game?”

 

“Nope,” Oliver said, “The Arrows are playing Portree today and per League rules, we aren’t allowed to practice on game days.”

 

“Oh.” Albus knew that- his mother played for years after all- but he wanted to give himself time.

 

“You usually don’t come home for Easter, unless I’m misremembering” Oliver noted, “Missing your family? Evading trouble at the castle?”

 

Albus stuttered. It was easy to forget that Oliver could actually be an observant bloke. Instead of answering, Albus fiddled with his hoodie’s sleeves.

 

A hand touched his shoulder. He jumped.

 

“Seriously, are you well?” Percy asked. “You can tell us anything. No judgment.”

 

“I-I-I actually wanted your advice on something.” Albus cursed his voice crack.

 

Percy placed the mugs of tea on the table. Looking into the cup, Albus could tell the teabags were just put in as color had barely left the bag.

 

“What can we help you with?” Oliver asked.

 

“When, um? How, um? _Shit_ ,” Albus muttered.

 

“Take your time,” Percy said, “Breathe.”

 

Albus closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. _Focus_ he thought. It wouldn’t get better until he got it all out. _And they won’t judge you_.

 

“Um, when did you two know you were interested in other men?” Albus basically whispered. He didn’t look in their eyes. When he finally did look up, both his uncles looked a bit surprised like he had told them there was pop quiz in their next class.

 

Both Oliver and Percy took a moment to collect themselves. They looked at each other like they were communicating wordlessly. Once the initial shock wore off, they seemed a lot more relaxed. Oliver spoke first. “Well, I don’t remember exactly. But I knew pretty early. I just wasn’t interested in girls- not to say you can’t be interested in _both_ boys and girls mind you! Or nonbinary people! Like, I was on the Gryffindor team from a pretty young age and all the boys were much older than me and most of them would talk about girls they fancied and I just didn’t get it. Even when I got older and we were all still on the team, I still didn’t get it. But I had this _huge_ crush on this boy on the Ravenclaw team, Andre. He was in your Uncle Charlie’s year. At first I thought it was just admiration. You know, he was a fantastic Chaser and an amazing flyer and whatnot. But after a game in third year, he complimented my keeping skills and gave me this big smile and shook my hand and I just felt butterflies in my stomach and my face heated up. I was so flustered, I couldn’t say a bloody thing. That’s when I realized ‘Oh, I _do_ like blokes’.”

 

Albus nodded as he was processing this information. “Did you tell anyone?” he asked.

 

Oliver shook his head. “I mean, I was thirteen or fourteen,” he said, “So I wasn’t ready to be out yet. I wasn’t even ready to date at that point, so I felt it wasn’t necessary to tell anyone. And being gay at that time in the Wizarding World was…how would you describe it, Perce?”

 

Percy thought for a second. “Extremely complicated?” Percy said, “Like, same-sex marriage has been legal in Wizarding Britain for a long time- or at least _not illegal_ \- but homosexuality or any queerness in our youth was controversial. There was a bunch of complicated factors that also had to do blood purity and how traditional individual families were and all that business. Basically, no one knew where they stood and how people would react if they came out. Now, it’s a lot more accepting overall. I mean, there are still bigots, but they are mostly part of the old regime and their opinions don’t matter. Overall, it’s better.”

 

“Yeah, I think that’s fair,” Oliver said, “Though most forms of public expression of sexuality were pretty much frowned upon, gay or straight. People would gossip about you if you so much kissed in public. Skeeter still does that in her gossip columns! Though it was worse if you weren’t a straight, pure-blood man.”

 

“Don’t forget rich,” Percy added.

 

Oliver nodded in agreement as he sipped his tea, then continued, “And God forbid you wore something that showed anything lower than your collarbone. I went shirtless _one time_ at a Quidditch practice because it was bloody hot as balls out and Snape deducted twenty points from Gryffindor!”

 

“The view on clothing is still pretty antiquated, especially with women,” Percy pointed out.

 

“Very true,” Oliver said, “The girls complain about it all the time.”

 

As amusing watching his uncles rant about Wizarding society was, it wasn’t helping Albus. “Um, we’ve gotten a bit off topic,” he said.

 

“Oh shite, sorry,” Oliver said sheepishly.

 

“You know how we are,” Percy said, “We can rant at the top of a hat.”

 

“So when did you know you were interested in men, Uncle Percy?” Albus asked.

 

“My experience was very different from Oliver’s,” Percy said.

 

“Very different,” Oliver echoed.

 

“I was in denial for a long time because I was scared about being different. It can be difficult being so unlike the rest of your family. And then to add being gay on top of that- I had no idea how my family would respond. At first, like Oliver, I thought any stray thoughts I had about other men being attractive was just an acknowledgement that ‘Oh that guy just has a traditionally handsome face’ or ‘he’s in good physical shape” or what have you. We, as humans, can objectively judge attractiveness.”

 

“So how did you realize you actually liked men?” Albus asked, leaning closer. This story was ringing true.

 

“So in sixth year, I had a girlfriend named Penny. She was a nice girl that I knew and she asked me out to a date in Hogsmeade. I wanted to see what dating was like, so I said yes. And then we began to date in secret. Partially because her parents didn’t really want her to date, so she could focus on her studies. But she was curious about what all the fuss was about. I wanted to keep it secret because I was worried what would happen if my family found out. I feared my brothers would be able to sniff out any problems we had or they would just bother her. We snogged a lot and it was nice, but I had no desire to go further than kissing her. And I began to question that. What was wrong with me? _Then_ she got petrified by the Basilisk. It was awful, but it also gave me time to think. I missed her, but I missed talking to her more than anything. She was a good friend, intelligent, and a good listener. And then this one,” he said, pointing to his husband, “was doing things like working out shirtless in our dorm room and I couldn’t help but stare. It was a very confusing time for me.”

 

“I knew what was going on,” Oliver said, “You weren’t subtle.”

 

“Well, you were like five steps ahead of me,” Percy said.

 

“What happened?” Albus prompted.

 

“Before I could finally put two and two together, Penny was unpetrified. She and I dated for a little bit longer. I think Penny knew I was gay before I did. She broke up with me, saying that she could tell my heart wasn’t in the relationship, and that I should truly discover myself, but that we should still be friends. Eventually, in seventh year, there was a rumor that Oliver might be interested in someone and I worried about it. I talked about my feelings with my friend Felicity- who’s now Audrey’s wife- and she kind of spelled it out for me. That’s when I knew.”

 

“Did you two start dating after that?” Albus asked. He was starting to get caught up in the story. Of all his uncles and aunts, he didn’t really know about how Percy and Oliver got together. Everyone knew his parent’s story and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione’s. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur told their first meeting often enough that Albus knew it. And Albus’s mum once explained how Uncle George and Aunt Angelina got together after Rita Skeeter wrote a scathing article about them. Uncle Charlie was still a bit of a mystery though.

 

Both his uncles shook their heads. “We didn’t start dating until we were like twenty?” Oliver looked at Percy for confirmation.

 

“Yes, I was twenty. I think you were twenty-one by the point,” Percy said.

 

“Did you know the other was gay before then?” Albus asked. He was a bit shocked it took a while for them to start dating.

 

“Oh yes,” Percy said, “I told Oliver I was gay not too long after I figured it out myself.”

 

“And when he told me, I told him,” Oliver said, “Perce was the first person I came out to.”

 

“When did you come out to your families? And how they did they react?” Albus asked. This was one of the things he was most curious about.

 

Oliver spoke up first. “My parents didn’t take it as well as I hoped they would,” he said matter-of-factly. “It was not long after your uncle and I started dating. I came home one weekend to get a few things from my old room and whatnot. My parents were asking the usual questions: how’s Quidditch, are you seeing anyone, etc. I told them I was seeing someone. And that he was a man. I didn’t tell them it was Percy because he wasn’t out yet publicly and I didn’t want it to get back to his parents. Our parents were social at the time, even if Percy wasn’t on speaking terms with his family by that point. Anyway, the room went _silent_. After a while, my mum started talking like it was a phase that I’ll get over. My dad was angry. He started yelling that I was ruining my Quidditch career. It turned into a shouting match and then I Disapparated away. We didn’t talk for a while.”

 

“That is such bullshit!” Albus exclaimed, “You’re like one of the most successful Quidditch players in the British League!”

 

Oliver seemed amused at Albus’s outburst. “Trust me, I know. At the time I was just a reserve Keeper with a supportive, but over-worked boyfriend, trying to find my way in the world. But I turned out just fine. In spite of them more than anything.”

 

“Did they ever come around on it?” Albus asked.

 

“Yeah, after the War was done. My dad is Muggle-born and my parents managed to escape when the Ministry went under. I didn’t know that until later. Anyway, I guess they realized in a life or death situation that it was stupid to disown your son about who makes him happy, even if they didn’t totally understand it. It was still weird for a while between us- I didn’t know if they’d turn their backs on me again and I think they were still feeling out my relationship with Percy- but we still talk. It’s better. Not as close as we used to be, but I have a supportive family with you lot, so it could be worse,” Oliver said.

 

“That sucks though,” Albus said.

 

“I mean, it is what it is at this point,” Oliver said, “Can’t go back and change it.” Oliver’s eyes went wide, realizing he made a time travel reference. “Shite, sorry.” Percy grimaced.

 

“It’s fine,” Albus sighed.

 

“Can’t help putting my foot in my mouth sometimes. It’s a talent of mine…”

 

Albus just want to swerve away from the time travel thing and focused on his other uncle. “How did your family handle your coming out?” he asked.

 

“Pretty well, actually,” Percy said, “Most of them found out we were together right after the Battle of Hogwarts and they were perfectly accepting of it. Some of my brothers made fun of me for dating Oliver of all people, but for the most part they leave my sexuality alone. It’s a line they don’t cross. I don’t think it surprised anyone that I’m gay.   And Mum found out before everyone else. She visited me a few times after the family disowned me and didn’t tell anyone. When she gave me the invitation to Bill’s wedding and tried to talk me into going, Oliver came home from work and- not realizing she was there- was calling me pet names and gushing over how much he missed me-“

 

Oliver interrupted, “Once I realized she was there, I tried backpedaling, but she stopped me and said she was happy for us. I could tell she meant it. She was crying and hugged us and everything.”

 

“She also told us that one of her brothers- Gideon, who died in the First Wizarding War- was gay too,” Percy said.

 

Albus processed that for a moment. If he was gay or bi or whatever, the Weasleys should understand. He felt some of the weight lift off his shoulders.

 

“So how did you end up together?” Albus asked.

 

Oliver and Percy chuckled. “If you want a big, romantic story, you’re not going to get it,” Oliver said.

 

“Yeah,” Percy agreed, “It’s not the best story.”

 

“If it even is a story.”

 

“Well, something must have happened,” Albus said.

 

“If you are really that curious, I can try,” Percy said, “After the fight with my family, I went to live with Oliver. He had a flat in London with a spare bedroom and had been trying to convince me to live with him for some time-“

 

“I was lonely,” Oliver interjected, “No one could handle my strangeness like Perce.”

 

“So we started living together. And we coexisted for a while, focused on our own things. I feel like we had been skirting around each other for a while. I knew I was interested in him and I felt he was interested in me, but neither of us was willing to take the plunge.”

 

Oliver nodded along. “It had been like that for a while,” Oliver added, “Since seventh year, I think?”

 

Percy continued, “One really bad night, we both drank too much-“

 

“We were absolutely pissed,” Oliver said, snickering.

 

“We were ‘drinking firewhisky straight from the bottle’ level of pissed. It was awful. And- oh Merlin this is embarassing- at some point I said something to the effect of ‘I think you’re really fit’-“

 

“No! You said ‘I think you’re so bloody fit, it’s fucking infuriating’,” Oliver interjected, laughing.

 

“I’m trying not to embarrass my nephew, all right?” Percy said primly.

 

“You’re trying not to embarrass yourself,” Oliver said back and gave his husband a wink. Albus was trying hard not to laugh out loud at his uncles.

 

“You’re being really cheeky today,” Percy replied, “If you don’t like how I’m telling it, you can take over.”

 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Oliver said turning back to Albus, “After Percy said that, I said ‘Your freckles are infuriating’ and kissed him.”

 

“Again, we were sloshed, so this wasn’t a Jane Austen-style declaration of love. I’m certain we were slurring,” Percy said.

 

Oliver went back to the story. “We snogged for a while and then we both kind of just fell asleep on the sofa? And when we woke up- massively hungover- I was like ‘I know we just drank a lot last night but I really do like you and I think we should date’.”

 

“And then you asked me to have breakfast at the cafe down the street with you and we’ve been together ever since,” Percy said smiling. He turned to his nephew and said, “So that’s our story. It’s not the most exciting, but I like it.”

 

“Of all the family, I can’t believe you two started from basically a drunken hookup,” Albus said, mock disapproving.

 

“Not really a hookup,” Oliver said, “More of a snog.”

 

“Still drunken,” Albus said.

 

“Yes, well, we can’t all be Ron and Hermione, love story for the ages,” Percy said, quoting one of the sappier pieces from _Witch Weekly_ about their family.

 

“No, I like it though,” Albus said sincerely, “It’s good to know that not everyone has big, epic get-togethers in our family.”

 

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Oliver said.

 

Percy took a sip of his tea and spoke, “And what about you Albus? Anyone you fancy right now?” He spoke carefully, like he knew this was an edgy subject. Albus was annoyed how perceptive Uncle Percy was. But this was what he wanted to talk to his uncles about.

 

“Um, actually…” Albus hesitated, took a breath and continued, “You remember that guy I told you was teaching me guitar, Brandon?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“He, um, kind of asked me out?” Albus said.

 

“On a date?” Oliver asked.

 

Albus nodded. “To Hogsmeade.”

 

“Did he say it was a date?” Oliver specified.

 

“He said the words, yeah,” Albus said.

 

“Do you like him in that way?” Percy asked.

 

Albus messed up his hair a bit before speaking. “I think I do? I mean, he’s really fit and nice. But I don’t know if I actually am gay or bi or whatever or just straight and confused because someone is actually giving me attention like that? I just…argh…I don’t know.”

 

It was confusing for Albus. His uncles’ earlier stories kind of helped, but he still wasn’t sure. Was he just flattered by Brandon’s attention towards him? But he did find Brandon insanely attractive, as well as other men…. But there was the whole fact that he didn’t want to be so different from his family. He was already a Slytherin. Adding gay or bisexual on top of that would probably make the teasing worse.

 

“Albus, breathe,” Percy said, “It’s OK you don’t understand your sexuality right now. You’re sixteen. Millions of people don’t figure out their sexuality until they are much older, if they ever fully figure things out. It’s perfectly acceptable to question and experiment- well, within safe, smart boundaries. Don’t have unprotected sex. Always, always, always, get consent from your partner; don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do. And don’t be afraid to say no to things you don’t want to do. That sort of thing. But a date isn’t a lifelong commitment. If you go on a date with this Brandon boy and like it and it confirms that you’re attracted to other boys, great. If you do and realize that isn’t the case, that’s good too. If you don’t figure it out, that’s also fine. It’s all fine.”

 

Oliver spoke up: “And if you are interested in him, but aren’t ready to have a date in a public place, talk to him about it. He will probably understand. And you can find another place to have a date. And if he’s an asshole about it, he probably isn’t worth your time. If anyone- especially anyone in our family- gives you shit about it, send them to us.”

 

“Please tell me you aren’t planning to punch teenagers,” Percy said dryly.

 

“I was thinking more you lecturing them to death while I look scary in the background,” Oliver replied.

 

Percy looked like he seriously considered that proposal and shrugged. He turned back to Albus. “Honestly, you shouldn’t be worried about our family. They treat us fine. Unless they’ve been talking about us behind our backs?”

 

“I haven’t heard anything,” Albus said.

 

“Good,” Percy said, “But, seriously, Molly is pretty openly bisexual and no one seems to care.”

 

“And your parents have plenty of queer friends. Alicia and Katie, for example,” Oliver said.

 

“And Dean and Seamus,” Percy added “And those two Hufflepuffs from Harry’s year whose names I can never remember.”

 

“I’m sure there are more. We are a couple years older than them, so I don’t know about everyone,” Oliver said.

 

Albus had literally never considered that point. It was a good one too. His parents _did_ have a lot of queer friends. A small weight lifted off of Albus’s shoulders. He was still a bit nervous about other’s opinions though.

 

“Does that help?” Percy asked.

 

Albus thought about it for a moment. Their reassurance that he didn’t have to decide who he was right now really did take some of the weight off his shoulders. And the fact that the Weasley family really didn’t care about sexuality.

 

“Yeah,” Albus said nodding, “I think that does.”

 

“Fantastic!” Percy said.

 

“We really hope for the best for you. Whatever makes you happy,” Oliver added.

 

“Thanks,” Albus said.

 

Percy took a sip of his tea. “So how are O.W.L.s going?”

 

“Ugh.” Albus slammed his head on the table. His uncles laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you like this chapter! Yes, this is a Scorbus tagged fic and we'll get there eventually, I promise.


	5. Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been reading, commenting, and giving kudos so far! I can't express how much I appreciate it. This is probably the longest published fanfiction I've written (I've completed a NaNoWriMo, but didn't finish the entire story), so this is kind of crazy for me.
> 
>  
> 
> As always, this work has not been Beta'd or Brit picked, so all mistakes are my own and I do not own these characters.

Percy Weasley was outside, pulling out weeds in the garden when he heard the home telephone ring. Alert, he ran into the house. While the likelihood that it was someone in trouble was slim, it was better not to risk it when all of his immediate family was away. Maybe Oliver got hit really hard in the head with a quaffle or bludger. It happened less often now that he was coaching, but anything could happen. His daughters could easily be stuck in a Muggle section of Europe without access to an owl. Besides, telephones were faster. The Wizard World really needed to update its communication devices.

 

He barely made it to the kitchen before the last ring.

 

“Hello. This is the Weasley-Wood residence. Percy speaking,” he rushed out.

 

“Hey Perce, it’s Gin.” Percy relaxed somewhat hearing his sister’s voice on the other end. At least it meant his daughters weren’t in danger. Not that they couldn’t handle themselves, but still.

 

“Hello, Ginny! How are you?”

 

“I’m fine. Harry’s off at Auror training, Jamie is off at Quidditch training, and all the Quidditch training camps are closed to reporters so I don’t have to travel, so it’s just me, Al, and Lily alone for a week. How are you?”

 

“Similar to you, but I’m all by myself. Ollie is at training and the girls are traveling around the Continent with Nic and a few friends.”

 

“Let’s just hope they won’t cause an international incident,” Ginny joked. She knew as well as Percy how unlikely that was. All of the girls on the trip were former prefects.

 

“That’s just what I need,” Percy laughed, “I’m sure they’ll be fine though. Fleur drilled international etiquette in their heads before they left.”

 

Ginny was silent for a second, then spoke. “Listen, do you have any plans this afternoon?”

 

“Other than watch an old Muggle film with Ludwig? No. Why?” Lucy’s cat Ludwig got very lonely when she wasn’t around and would follow Percy every chance he got. With all of his hectic scheduling, Percy thought it would be nice to watch an old Muggle film on the telly this Saturday afternoon. Ludwig would most likely snuggle up with him. It wasn’t the same as snuggling up with Oliver, but he could take what he would get.

 

“It’s Albus,” Ginny said, “Before you start freaking out, he came home from a visit to the Malfoys a couple days ago and he’s been sulking in his room ever since. He’ll just grab whatever meal I give him, hide up in his room, and take all his dishes down at the next meal. And I swear I’ve heard him crying.”

 

“Do you know why he’s upset?” With Albus, it could be hard to tell. Percy could remember Albus being an emotional child and he wasn’t keen on talking about his issues. With all that Albus had gone through in the past few years, him hiding out in his room could be very concerning. Alternately, it could be regular teenage things. He was sixteen after all.

 

“Absolutely no idea. I’ve tried talking to him about it and so has Lily but he’s not budging. Maybe he and Scorpius had a row of some sort? It’s probably that, but I’m just worried that it’s something worse. And I can’t contact Harry while he’s at camp and Merlin knows James would only make whatever is going on worse. And his counselor doesn’t have an open appointment for a week and a half unless it’s a life-or-death situation. But Albus has seems to have a lot of trust and respect for you, and you give good advice, so I thought maybe he’d be willing to talk to you? Does that seem too far off?”

 

“No, that makes sense, Gin. When do you want me to come by?”

 

“Just sometime this afternoon, if that’s possible. Doesn’t matter when. And if you stay long enough, we can go out to eat for dinner? If that sounds all right with you.”

 

“That sounds nice.” It did. He rarely spent time alone with his sister, especially with just Lily and Albus. Also, he’d probably be eating dinner by himself anyway.

 

“Oh! And, um, maybe bring some sort of treat for Albus? Like ice cream or something. If it has chocolate in it, he’ll probably eat it.”

 

“Ok. Chocolate. Do you want me to bring you and Lily some ice cream as well?”

 

“If you want to, sure. Probably just me, though. Lily’s going out with some friends this afternoon and will probably get some sweets while she’s gone. And she’ll understand that Al will need some cheering up. She’ll probably be home for dinner though.”

 

“If you’re sure…” Percy said. He didn’t want to upset his niece.

 

“Trust me, Lily will be fine,” Ginny reassured.

 

“All right then. I’ll see you later in the afternoon?”

 

“Yes, I’ll see you this afternoon, Percy.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Late in the afternoon, Percy arrived outside his sister’s door with a bag of ice cream from Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Although Florean Fortescue died in the Wizarding War, his daughter and son- Florodora and Florizel Fortescue- reopened the business in honor of their father. Normally, Percy would take the Floo from Diagon Alley, but the Potters lived in London. Percy only Apparated a little ways away and walked the rest of the distance.

 

A few moments after Percy knocked on the front door, he was face-to-face with his little sister. Ginny ushered him inside and into the kitchen.

 

“You just missed Luna,” Ginny said as they walked.

 

“Oh really? Just Luna or were Rolf and the boys with her?” Percy asked. To the surprise of most people who knew both of them, Percy actually liked Luna. Yes, he considered her slightly mad, but it was nice to get other points of view. They had quite a few similarities: a love of Divination, being parents to twins, and being bullied by others for being different. Percy remembered meeting Luna as a lonely, little first year who hung around Penny a lot. He was always nice to her and even introduced her to Ginny.

 

“It was just Luna. She was running some errands at Diagon Alley and decided to stop by. Rolf was apparently taking the twins to get haircuts,” Ginny explained.

 

“Oh. How was she?” Percy asked.

 

“Fine. Luna-like. She was a bit worried when I told her about Al. Thinks it has something to do with the moon cycle hurting his energy, but she reassured me he should be fine by the next new moon.”

 

“That’s a very Luna theory, but it’s not based in nothing,” Percy started, but noticed his sister’s amused face and stopped, “It’s probably bunk though.” He reached into his bag and offered Ginny a bowl of ice cream. “I brought you some ice cream. It’s lemon drop flavored. Florodora said that’s what you usually get. She says hello.”

 

“Thank you!” Ginny said, taking the offered treat, “What did you get Albus?”

 

“Chocolate and caramel.”

 

“Good call,” Ginny said, “Let me get some spoons.” She dug through a drawer in the kitchen and came back with three spoons.

 

“I really hope that you’re able to figure out what’s going on with Albus,” Ginny said, “I don’t like seeing him like this.”

 

“I think we can help him,” Percy said, “It might take some patience, but I think we can get there.”

 

Since Ginny talked to him earlier that morning, Percy had time to think. He had a feeling it _might_ be related to the conversation he had with Albus around Easter about Albus’s sexuality. Albus had updated Percy and Oliver in a few letters about the issue. After going on a few, secret dates with Brandon, Albus decided while that he was in fact gay, he and Brandon worked better as friends. The other boy agreed. As far as Percy knew, Albus hadn’t told his parents or friends about being interested in other boys. If he came home upset after staying at Malfoy Manner, Percy hoped it wasn’t because of a broken heart.

 

Ginny led Percy upstairs to Albus’s room. She knocked on the door. “Hey, sweetie, Uncle Percy is here. He brought ice cream and thought that you might want to talk. Can he come in?”

 

A muffled, “Yeah, whatever,” was heard through the door.

 

“Good luck,” Ginny whispered to Percy as she walked away.

 

Percy opened the door slowly and walked into Albus’s room. It was dirty to Percy’s standards. Clothes and odds and ends were on the floor and covering the only chair. Albus was lying on his bed with headphones on.

 

Standing in the threshold, Percy said, “Hello.”

 

“Hey,” Albus mumbled, not looking up. He didn’t look much better than his room. His hair was extremely messy and he was wearing a stained hoodie and joggers.

 

“I brought you ice cream. It’s chocolate and caramel,” Percy said as he carefully stepped over a pile of what he assumed was dirty laundry and offered the dish of ice cream to Albus.

 

Albus actually sat up on his bed and took the treat. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

 

Percy looked around for a place to sit. Deciding it was good as anything else, Percy used wordless magic to remove the objects off the chair and into a neat pile on the floor. He _accio-_ ed the chair closer to the bed and took a seat. Then, he started eating his own butterbeer ice cream.

 

After a few minutes of silence, Percy spoke up. “Your mum said you’ve holed yourself in here for the past few days. Care to talk about it?”

 

“No,” Albus responded.

 

“All right, your choice,” Percy said. After a few seconds, Percy spoke again, “I’ve been lonely myself the past few days. Ollie is at training camp. And Mols and Lucy are having a holiday on the Continent with Nic and a few other friends. I think they’re someplace around Austria right now. So it’s just been me and the cat and the owls.”

 

“That sucks,” Albus said, barely looking up.

 

Percy shrugged and continued talking. He didn’t love awkward silences. “I’m trying to keep busy. Keeping the house clean, monitoring Mols’s plants, reading, the like.” Percy laughed lightly. “You know, I never thought I’d say this, but it’s odd when you’ve been surrounded by noise all your life and then it’s suddenly quiet. None of Oliver and Mols’s Quidditch chats or Lucy practicing her music. And growing up in the Burrow, it was just a wall of noise. True, the quiet can be brilliant on the first day, but by day three it can be unnerving. I try not to focus on it. Thus the distractions.”

 

“Huh.” Albus did seem somewhat interested in what Percy was saying.

 

“Do you like the ice cream? You seem to be picking at it. Your mum said you liked chocolate,” Percy said.

 

Albus’s brow furrowed and he looked at his ice cream. “It’s good. Just…thinking.”

 

“It’s not a depression or PTSD thing, is it? Let me tell you, getting through those issues without support is extremely difficult. And I’m saying that from experience. We want to make sure you aren’t hurting yourself.”

 

Albus sighed. “It’s not that sort of thing,” he said, “It’s more of a, um, teenage problem.”

 

“Ah. School troubles? Friend troubles? Boy troubles?”

 

“Um, boy troubles?” Albus sounded really uncertain.

 

“Want to talk about it?”

 

Albus looked around the room, like someone was hiding in all the mess. “Uh. Promise not to tell anyone?”

 

“I promise.”

 

Albus looked at him intensely. “Not Mum. Not Dad. Not James or Lily. Not your daughters.”

 

“Okay.”

 

A thought crossed Albus’s face. “I mean, you can probably tell Uncle Oliver, if you want.”

 

“Whatever you are fine with.”

 

Percy watched as Albus stabbed at his ice cream with his spoon. He wasn’t going to push. Albus had to be ready to tell him.

 

“So I visited Scorp last week, the whole week…” Albus started. Percy just nodded. “I’ve been meaning to tell him, you know, about me. I’ve been scared about it. How he’ll respond. How his dad will respond if Scorp lets it slip. It getting back to my parents. But I decided this visit I’m going to tell him. So I had prepared myself to tell him. Thought about how to go about it. The whole thing. And when I got to the Manor and I saw him- I don’t know what happened- maybe he had a growth spurt or he finally grew into those stupid ears or maybe it was nothing- but I felt like I had been hit with a _Confundus_. I-I-I realized I fancied him. Ergh.” Albus groaned into his hands.

 

“Did you end up telling him about being gay?” Percy asked softly. He was honestly concerned where this story was going. He didn’t want to think bad of Scorpius Malfoy. He seemed like a nice kid.

 

Albus shook his head. “I couldn’t. I chickened out. And then he started talking about how much he fancies Rose and how he plans to charm her and _ugh_. Why does this shite always happen to me?”

 

“Rose? Like your cousin Rose? _Rose Granger-Weasley_?”

 

“Yeah, he’s fancied her since forever.”

 

“ _Really_?” Percy honestly couldn’t believe it. “Does he have a death wish?”

 

Albus gave out a shocked chuckle. “How do you mean?”

 

“You do know your Uncle Ron would _never_ allow that relationship to happen, right?” Not that he felt Rose couldn’t or woudn’t do whatever she wanted, but Ron was also stubborn.

 

“I mean, yeah, I figured that. But if anyone could end up charming Ron, it would be Scorp.”

 

“I just don’t think that relationship would _ever_ work.”

 

“Why not? They’re both two attractive, smart people and will have, like, five perfect children,” Albus grumbled.

 

“Look, Albus,” Percy said, trying to word things carefully, “I don’t think you have to worry about Rose liking Scorpius in that way.”

 

“But-“ Albus started, but Percy held up a hand to silence him.

 

“I’m not saying I know this for sure- and I don’t want to participate in gossip- but I think you have more in common with her than you think,” he said. His daughter Molly had once told him that Rose had confided to her that she was interested in other girls and wanted to talk about it. Molly had only let it slip on accident. Percy didn’t know if that meant Rose was bisexual like Molly or pansexual or a lesbian. Regardless, he still believed Scorpius wasn’t Rose’s type anyway. She would worry a lot about the issues dating a Malfoy would bring and disappointing her parents.

 

Albus looked confused for a moment, “What do yo-“. Then his eyes went wide. “Oh! _Really?”_

Percy shrugged. “Just a feeling,” he said. Albus didn’t need to know what he knew.

 

Albus’s giddiness wore off quickly as he thought of something. “Well, even if that’s true, Scorp is still straight,” he said sadly.

 

“Well, do you know that for certain?” Percy asked.

 

“No…” Albus said warily, “But he’s shown a lot of interest in Rose.”

 

“Have you two ever spoken much about who you are interested in?”

 

“Other than the Rose thing, no,” Albus said.

 

“At the risk of getting your hopes up, he could be bisexual or demisexual or something else and too scared to tell you.”

 

Albus sat in silence for moment. “But what if he’s not?” he asked quietly.

 

“Well…” Percy said, “You’ll eventually move on. I’m not saying it will be easy. It might be very difficult. And there will probably be random pains for a while. But if you value his friendship, you’ll want him to be happy, right? Eventually, you’ll find someone or something that will make you very happy. Who you are dating or married to or your sexual orientation isn’t your whole life. I mean, look at your Uncle Charlie. There are your friendships and your family and your work. Maybe you’ll become the best musical astronomer out there and have strong friendships and you’ll be very happy. And maybe you’ll meet the man of your dreams and you’ll be together forever and that would be great. No one knows for certain what the future holds. Even Seers don’t know for sure.”

 

“What’s a musical astronomer?” Albus asked.

 

“I don’t know, I was just trying to be funny,” Percy said sheepishly.

 

“You’re such a nerd,” Albus said, with a small smile.

 

“Yeah, well, I think we both knew that,” Percy said.

 

“…I’m still really scared to tell him about me,” Albus said after a moment.

 

“That’s completely understandable, Albus,” Percy said, “But let’s look at the possible reactions. What’s the worst that can happen if you tell him you’re gay?”

 

“He says he hates me.”

 

“Ok. Does that seem something like Scorpius would say?”

 

“…No? We’ve never really talked about it.”

 

“He’s gone to hell and back for you Albus. I sincerely doubt you saying you like to kiss boys is going to stop your friendship. It could be awkward for a while, but I don’t think he’ll hate you.”

 

“But what if does?” Albus asked.

 

“Then he’s not a good friend,” Percy said, “But let’s look at the opposite side: what’s the best case scenario?”

 

“Um, he tells me he loves me and we live happily ever after.”

 

“Ok. And what’s in-between those two cases?”

 

“Something like you and Oliver? It takes a while for us to admit our feelings to each other but then we’re mostly happy. Um, I tell him and he’s supportive of it, but we stay friends.”

 

“I think Oliver and I are happy.”

 

“You do argue occasionally,” Albus pointed out.

 

“All couples argue,” Percy said, “It’s part of any relationship. Friends fight. Partners fight. Families fight. I mean, if it’s too much, it could be unhealthy. And it’s obviously bad if there’s violence involved. But all relationships involve a bit of give and take. We’re all individuals with different personalities and expectations. Proper, healthy communication is the key to most successful relationships. And listening.”

 

“Ok,” Albus said.

 

“Now back to your situation,” Percy said, “The in-betweens are the most realistic, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Are they particularly objectable?”

 

“No. But I just…really like him,” Albus said earnestly.

 

“I get it,” Percy said, “I really do. I mean, before he and I got together, I was hung up on Oliver for _years_. Of course, I knew he was also gay for a good portion of it, but it didn’t make it easier. He dated other Quidditch players for a while. Quietly as to not cause problems professionally, but I knew. It wasn’t easy seeing him together with those type of blokes. I mean, I don’t exactly look like most Quidditch players, you know? I didn’t know if he’d be interested in me. I was lucky in the fact that he actually was into me, but it easily could have gone another way.”

 

“But what should I do?” Albus asked.

 

“I think- at some point- you need to be honest with Scorpius, at least in regard to your sexuality. If you want to wait to tell him that you’re interested in him, that’s your decision. From what I know about Scorpius, I think he’ll be supportive of you. So will your parents and the rest of the family. But if you aren’t ready for that, I completely understand. Coming out can be difficult.”

 

“I’ll think about it,” Albus said, “Like I want to be out, but I don’t know when or how.”

 

“I think you’ll know when the time comes,” Percy said, “But sometimes it just happens or doesn’t happen the way you wanted it to. I mean, most of my family found out when Oliver and I started kissing after the battle. We were just so relieved to see each other that we didn’t think about who was around us.”

 

“That’s such a Gryffindor move,” Albus joked.

 

“It is, isn’t it?”

 

They talked and ate ice cream for a while longer until a knock came from the door.

 

“Hey,” Ginny’s muffled voice was heard through the door, “It’s about dinnertime, if you want to come downstairs and we can talk about where to get dinner.”

 

“All right Mum!” Albus yelled out.

 

“Are you feeling better enough to brave the public?” Percy asked his nephew.

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Albus said. He sniffed his hoodie, “Merlin, I smell rank. I think I’ll take a shower.”

 

“Yes, I was going to suggest that,” Percy said grimacing, “I’ll take our ice cream downstairs while you get cleaned up.”

 

Albus just nodded as he searched among the piles of clothes on the floor for something to wear. Percy took the two bowls and spoons downstairs.

 

Ginny was waiting for Percy in the kitchen.

 

“How is he?” she asked.

 

“Doing better, I think. He still has some things to work through, but at least he’s willing to go outside. His room is a _mess_ , by the way.”

 

“Well, he’s definitely Harry’s son,” Ginny commented, then asked, “But what’s going on with him?”

 

Percy sighed. He wanted to tell his sister Albus’s problems, but he did promise Albus. “I wish I could tell you, but it’s not my place. Albus will tell you when he’s ready.”

 

Ginny bit her lip. “Is it bad?” she asked.

 

“No, it’s not bad,” Percy reassured, “He’s just going through some normal teen problems. Don’t worry.”

 

“I know b-“

 

“Mum! I’m back!” The voice of Lily Potter came from the front hall.

 

“I’m in the kitchen!” Ginny called back.

 

Once Lily reached the kitchen, she noticed her family’s guest, “Oh, hi, Uncle Percy! What are you doing here?”

 

“I invited him over to talk to Albus and have dinner with us,” Ginny explained, “Uncle Oliver is at work and the girls are on holiday,”

 

“OK, cool,” Lily said.

 

“How was your day? Your mum said you were out with friends?” Percy asked.

 

Percy and Ginny listened to Lily chatter on about going shopping with one of her Muggle-born friends. Eventually, Albus came down the stairs looking much more put together than earlier.

 

“Oh, Merlin, you’re alive!” Lily said, “And brushed your hair.”

 

“Shut it, Lily,” Albus said, but he was smirking.

 

“So where are we going for dinner?” Percy asked.

 

“I was thinking a Muggle sushi place not too far away,” Ginny said, “Since your dad and Jamie are away.”

 

“Oh, thank god,” Albus muttered, “We haven’t had sushi in forever.”

 

“That sounds good to me!” Lily said.

 

“Do Harry and James not like it?” Percy asked.

 

“It’s the raw fish thing,” Ginny said, “Harry says he’s had enough undercooked fish for a lifetime. Jamie just doesn’t like it.”

 

“He just doesn’t like it because he sucks at chopsticks,” Lily said.

 

“But there’s plenty of sushi that isn’t raw,” Percy said.

 

“I know that. Harry just doesn’t care. He says it’s close enough,” Ginny said.

 

“Well, I can go for some sushi,” Percy said. Ginny grabbed her purse and began ushering her family out the door.

 

“All right!” Lily said while grabbing her brother’s arm as they walked, “We can get a California roll and a tiger roll and a dragon roll-”

 

“Lily, I will give you two galleons if you eat a big glob of wasabi,” Albus said.

 

“Interesting….” Lily said thinking, “Make it four?”

 

“Only two,” Albus said.

 

“What if I also ate a couple pieces of ginger?” Lily asked.

 

“Then I’d do three,” Albus said, “But you have to swallow it all. If you spit it out, you have to give me the money.”

 

“Deal,” Lily said.

 

“This sounds like a terrible idea,” Percy said to no one in particular.

 

“It does,” Ginny said, “But if it means Al is joking around and feeling better, I’ll let this one slide.”

 

When Lily was able to keep her hunk of wasabi and ginger down, Albus gladly handed her three galleons. She then downed an entire galloon of water. As fun as the dinner was, it made Percy miss his own kids. He gave them big hugs when they finally got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? As you can guess, we are heading toward the Scorbus-y parts. And I think this story is beginning to wind itself down. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	6. Sushi, Soda, Butterbeer, and Candy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it's been a while! I (finally) got a new job! And I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with this chapter. Well, more like I knew the ending, it was the journey to get there that was difficult. And it ended up long.
> 
> As always, this chapter isn't beta'd or Brit-picked and I do not own these characters.

“Has anyone told you before that you have bloody thick hair?” Dominique asked as she ran a brush through Albus’s damp hair.

 

“Everyone!” Lily called from her position on Albus’s bed.

 

When Albus had come out to his family, they all had taken it very well. They were all very supportive. Maybe too supportive at times, in Albus’s opinion.

 

In a rare moment of pure impulse on the train back home from Hogwarts, Albus asked Scorpius to a concert Lucy’s band was doing on New Year’s Eve. _And_ specified it was a date. Scorpius actually said yes! It was exciting yet nerve-wracking. Albus made the mistake of trying to get advice from Uncle Percy and Uncle Oliver while their daughters were around. Lucy, of course, told Dominique. Nic insisted on giving Albus a makeover, with Lucy’s assistance. The two cousins badgered him for a while. Mols hadn’t even stepped in for them to stop! Eventually, Albus relented. He figured he could use the help. And his cousins said they would pay for it. Lily had invited herself along to their shopping excursion. While he was glad for the help, it was a lot to deal with.

 

Nic sighed when she hit a huge knot and asked, “Do you have detangling potion?”

 

“In the drawer,” Albus said pointing to the drawer in question. He rarely used it.

 

Nic took the potion and carefully ran it through Albus’s hair. He was glad that Nic had chosen to remove all of her rings and bracelets off before she started working on his hair. They would likely get snagged in it.

 

“Sweetie, you really need to take better care of your hair. I have some few product suggestions for you. I’ll write them down for you later,” Nic said as she once again ran a brush through his hair. With the tangles gone, the brushing actually felt nice. No one had brushed his hair since his parents stopped doing it years ago. He usually ripped a brush through it on an average day. He considered taking Dominique up on her offer if it meant his hair would actually feel like something other than a bird’s nest.

 

Nic put the brush down and grabbed a bottle of styling mousse. Albus groaned. Nic rolled her eyes.

 

“You’ll be fine, I promise. We’ve gone this far, haven’t we? What’s some styling mousse?” she asked.

 

“Is Albus being a coward?” Lily shouted from the bedroom.

 

“More like a brat!” Nic yelled back.

 

“He’s always a brat!” Lily called back.

 

“I thought that was you!” Albus yelled at his sister.

 

Nic grabbed his head and muttered, “Stay still.”

 

While she styled his hair using the mousse, a round brush, and a heating charm, Nic explained to Albus what she was doing. Albus had to admit it actually looked good for once. It wasn’t fully slicked back. Rather, Nic had found his side part and followed the hair’s natural wave and given the top some volume.

 

“Not bad,” Albus said, examining himself in the mirror.

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Nic said as she gathered her jewelry, “I’ll step out, so you can get dressed.”

 

After Nic closed the bathroom door, Albus examined the outfit hanging from the towel hooks. Nic, Lucy, and Lily dragged him to a Muggle vintage shop a week ago. At first, Lily had been almost as overwhelmed as Albus had been, but rather quickly joined her cousins throwing clothes at Albus. Eventually, they agreed on a deep green and silver brocade dinner jacket, slim black trousers, and a black button down. Nic had taken the jacket home and studded the lapels to give it some edge. Albus had no idea where Lucy found iridescent black brogues, but they completed the outfit. Nic called her concept for the look “edgy but posh rock star”.

 

After putting the outfit on, Albus could acknowledge he looked good. The green in the jacket brought out the green of his eyes. The clothes were much tighter than wizard robes, which he was certain his cousins would tell him was the point. It wasn’t too flashy, but still out of Albus’s very small comfort zone. He still looked like Albus though.

 

When he stepped out into his bedroom, Albus was met with the gasps and squeals of four women. He had no idea when Lucy and Molly had arrived, but they were there. The three redheads and the brunette gathered around Albus and talked over each other, giving him compliments.

 

“Damn, you clean up nice-“

 

“This is my best makeover to date-“

 

“Oh my God, Albie! Wait until Scorpius sees you! He’s going to _die_ -“

 

“That green just makes your eyes pop-“

 

Eventually, they calmed back down. Nic took over once again. “Finishing touches,” she said, “Unbutton the first two buttons. Three, if you’re comfortable.”

 

Albus undid two. He had buttoned it all the way up, so he followed his cousin’s advice.

 

“I feel like something is missing,” Nic muttered studying Albus, “I wish you had your ears pierced.” Albus reached up and held his ears. While he wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea, he just didn’t want it done _now_.

 

“How about a dragon tooth necklace?” Lucy suggested.

 

Nic lit up. “Absolutely! You got one from Uncle Charlie this year didn’t you?”

 

“The box is on the desk,” Albus said.

 

Nic _Accio’d_ the box over to her and took out the necklace. She studied the cord for a moment. Then, she transfigured the cord into a silver chain and walked behind Albus to put it on him. Once the clasp was in place she walked back.

 

“Perfect!” The chorus of cousins agreed.

 

Lucy spoke up, “I actually have to go for set up and stuff. Albus, you look absolutely stunning. Scorpius isn’t going to know what hit him.” She gave Albus a small hug. “Good luck!” she whispered.

 

Everyone wished Lucy good luck as she headed out.

 

“I wish I could go to the concert,” Lily complained. The pub Lucy’s band was performing at had an age limit of 16 for the concert. While that meant Albus and Scorpius could go- albeit they weren’t allowed to drink alcohol- Lily and the younger kids couldn’t. The only Weasley cousin younger than Albus that could go was Roxy- having just turned 16- but she decided if the others couldn’t go, she wouldn’t go. Instead, Weasley Wizard Wheezes was having a kid-friendly party at the shop. It was the same party every year. George, Angelina, and whatever employees they could get supplied a bunch Hogwarts-age and younger wizard children with pizza, sweets, and product demonstrations. There was a firework display at midnight. Albus had a feeling the Weasley cousins would skip the party at some point and hang out in Uncle George and Aunt Angelina’s apartment to avoid the even smaller children.

 

“You’ll have fun at the shop,” Molly said with a smile, “Gorge yourself on candy, have pizza. It will be a fun time. And James and Freddy and Rose will be working the party.”

 

“At the very least, you’ll have more fun than Mum and Dad,” Albus said, “You know how much they hate Ministry parties.” Albus knew they only went because they had to. It was always a fundraiser for the War Orphan’s Fund and Harry was always invited to speak.

 

“Dad and Pops too,” Molly said, “They usually sneak away to Dad’s office and play Exploding Snap or something.”

 

“So that’s what they’re calling it,” Nic joked.

 

“Oh Merlin, I did not need that picture in my head,” Molly groaned.

 

“Sorry,” Nic said mockingly.

 

“What’s Teddy and Vic doing for New Years? Weren’t they going to Paris?” Albus asked Nic.

 

“Yeah, they’re in France. I’m pretty sure Teddy is proposing tonight,” Nic said.

 

“ _Oooh_ ,” Lily said.

 

“Wait, how do you know?” Molly asked.

 

“Vic said Teddy’s been nervous the past few weeks. Also, she saw the ring in his sock drawer,” Nic said, “He steals her fuzzy socks a lot and when she was looking for a pair, she found the box.”

 

“Finally,” Lily said.

 

“Speaking of _finally_ ,” Nic said, “Albus, I’m so happy for you and Scorpius. I’ve been rooting for you two for ages.”

 

Albus felt the blood hitting his cheeks. “It’s just one date,” Albus mumbled.

 

“Nic, stop, you’re embarrassing him,” Molly said. “But we are happy for you two,” she assured Albus. Albus just wanted to crawl in a hole for forty years and never come out.

 

Nic clapped her hands together and said, “Scorpius should be here soon enough and we still have to show you off to the adults!”

 

She grabbed Albus’s arm and pulled him to the stairs. Lily trailed behind, giggling. Molly seemed amused as she walked sedately to them.

 

“OK, Al,” Nic said, “I’m going to go downstairs and announce you. Listen for your cue. _Don’t go down any earlier_. Got it?”

 

“Yes _, mum_ ,” Albus said rolling his eyes. Nic nodded at Molly and then walked down the stairs. Lily followed.

 

“And I thought she was one of the sane ones,” Albus quipped.

 

Molly chuckled. “I don’t think you can be a Weasley and be completely sane. We’re all a bit mental. She means well, at least. And you do look very nice tonight.”

 

“Thanks,” he said quietly gripping the banister. He glanced at his cousin and fully registering what she was wearing. Molly always dressed plainly and tomboy-ish. Tonight, she was wearing a white shirt tucked into gold sparkly trousers and a black motorcycle jacket. It was a little different for her as he rarely saw her wear sparkly things, but it was not too far off. “You look nice too,” Albus said.

 

“Thanks,” Molly said. She paused for a second. “Nervous?”

 

“Yeah.” The butterflies were starting to flutter in his stomach.

 

Molly squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll be fine,” she said, “Think of it like you’re just hanging out with Scorpius like normal, but there’s just a higher chance of snogging. I mean, he already said yes to going on a date with you, so he’s interested.”

 

“I’m jus-“

 

Dominique’s voice interrupted, “Albus! Come on down!”

 

“I think that’s your cue,” Molly said.

 

Albus took a deep breath and looked at his cousin. She gave him two thumbs up. Albus passed her as he slowly walked down the stairs. Molly followed slowly behind.

 

Once he reached the living room, Albus noticed there were more people than he was expecting. There were his parents, of course, his sister, Nic, Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, Uncle Percy and Uncle Oliver. Uncle Percy leaned over and whispered something to Aunt Fleur. His mum looked like she might start crying any minute. Someone wolf whistled at him, but he was not sure who. Albus blushed and wished he wasn’t the center of attention.

 

“Doesn’t he look great?!” Dominique asked everyone.

 

“Very ‘andsome,” Fleur agreed.

 

“I like it!” Harry said.

 

Everyone else chimed in with their approval.

 

“Why is everyone here?” Albus asked the surrounding adults, “Not that I don’t love you all, but this kind of weird.”

 

“Don’t worry, it’s not all about you. We figured it was safer to go to the Ministry gala as a group,” Harry said, “Less likely to get swarmed that way.”

 

“And we were dropping the girls off anyway,” Percy added, pointing between himself and his brother, “So why not wait here?”

 

“Just please don’t be weird when the Malfoys get here,” Albus begged everyone. Uncle Bill and Percy weren’t Uncle Ron- they didn’t have a personal vendetta against Mr. Malfoy as far as Albus was aware- but it could be weird.

 

“We’ll try our best,” Ginny Potter said, “Now let me a better look at you.”

 

Ginny came up to her son and studied his appearance. “Do you have product in your hair?” she asked.

 

“Yeah,” Albus said uncertain what his mum meant by the question, “Nic did it.”

 

“It looks very nice. _You_ look very nice. But it’s still very you,” Ginny said to her son. He could see a watery look in his mum’s eyes. Listening to his instincts, Albus hugged her. “I know I’m being silly, but my little boy is almost an adult. I’m so proud of you.”

 

Ginny gave him one last squeeze and stepped away. She conjured a handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

 

“Are you OK, Aunt Ginny?” Molly asked, appearing next to them.

 

“I’m fine. Just being a little emotional that my little boy is growing up,” Ginny said with a smile.

 

“It’s all right,” Molly said, “Dad and Pops were getting emotional about Lucy’s big break earlier. Gave me a camera to take photos too.”

 

“That definitely sounds like them,” Ginny said with a laugh. Albus chuckled too.

 

“I think you look very nice, by the way,” Molly said, “Periwinkle is a nice color on you.”

 

“Thank you, Mols. You look like you’re ready to party,” Ginny said, finally dry eyed, “How’s the plant life going?”

 

While his cousin and his mum were talking about Herbology, Albus took it as his opportunity to step away. He noticed Uncle Percy and Uncle Oliver talking to Lily, so he walked over to them.

 

“Hello Albus,” Uncle Percy greeted him when he reached them.

 

“Hi, Uncle Percy. Uncle Oliver,” he said back, “How are you?”

 

“Fine. Dreading the gala, but fine. I’d much rather watch Lucy’s band,” Percy said.

 

“Do you not like the Ministry galas?” Albus asked.

 

“Not particularly, no. I like doing the _work_ of government work and helping people. I lost my taste for stroking rich people’s egos in order to get what I want after the war,” Percy said.

 

“Why do you go then?” Lily asked.

 

“A sense of obligation,” Percy said, “I think those of us who have survived should do everything in our power to remember those who have passed and help those that they left behind. I don’t want history to repeat itself _again_. If it means I have to dress up and listen to a bunch of old fools tell me how to do my job and asking invasive questions about my past, so be it.”

 

“We usually end up hiding in his office once it gets to be too much,” Oliver added.

 

“It sucks that it has to be like that,” Albus said. Why couldn’t people leave his family alone? The end of the War was almost twenty years ago! Certainly people knew everything there possibly was to know.

 

“I agree. But let’s switch to happier topics,” Percy said, “Are you looking forward for your date?” Percy asked.

 

“Honestly? I’m nervous.  Looking forward to it, but nervous,” Albus said.

 

“It’s OK to be nervous.  But you’ll be fine.” Oliver said

 

“Scorpius is probably nervous too.  And he has less experience than you in this field. At least from what you’ve told me,” Percy pointed out.

 

“Wait, what? Since when did you have dating experience?”  Lily asked her brother.

 

“It’s not a big deal, Lily,” Albus waved her off.

 

“Not a big deal?! We’re supposed to tell each other everything!  Who was it? Did you kiss them?”

 

“Lily,” Albus said sternly, “Nowhere in the brother-sister rulebook does it say I have to tell you about my dating life.  It’s _private_.  I don’t know everything James has been up to and, quite frankly, I don’t want to.  And I’m certain you’re too young to know or experience all that.”

 

“For what you’ve been up to or James?” Lily retorted.

 

“James, of course.  Not that I think you should be kissing at your age,” Albus said.

 

“So you have kissed someone!” Lily gasped.

 

“Dammit, Lily,” Albus groaned.  

 

“And I’m _fourteen_.  I can do what I like!”

 

“Tha-” Albus stopped speaking as soon as someone came through the Floo. With his short white-blonde hair and ungraceful landing, the person was easily recognizable as Scorpius Malfoy. Before Albus could even reach him, Harry helped Scorpius to his feet.

 

“You OK there, kid?” Harry asked.

 

“Fine and dandy. Thank you Mr. Potter,” Scorpius said awkwardly. He looked around the room and finally noticed everyone. His eyes widened like a deer in headlights. “Wow, there’s a lot of Weasleys. Hello Weasleys.” He gave a little wave.

 

Albus decided to save his date and rushed up to him. At the same time, they seemed to realize how the other looked. Scorpius gaped at him like the Madam Pince handed him the keys to the Restricted Section of the library, no questions asked. Albus figured he didn’t look much better. Scorpius looked amazing. He was wearing a light gray turtleneck, a blue pea coat, and dark gray trousers. His gray eyes sparkled.

 

“Hi,” Albus said eventually with a smile.

 

“Hello,” Scorpius said, his voice cracking a bit at the end, “You look brilliant.”

 

Albus blushed. “You look nice too,” he said shyly.

 

With a woosh of green flames, Draco Malfoy exited the Floo. After brushing off the ash from his robes, he looked just as shocked as his son at seeing so many Weasleys in one place.

 

After a moment, Mr. Malfoy schooled his face. He nodded to each person as he spoke, “Potters. Weasleys. Wood.”

 

Everyone gave some sort of response at varying degrees of kindness. Everyone was trying their best, but it was awkward.

 

“Scorp, let me introduce you to everyone,” Albus said gripping Scorpius’s hand and leading him around. “You know my parents, of course, and Lily and Nic. And you kind of know Uncle Percy and Uncle Oliver and Molly, but this is Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur. Bill, Fleur, this is Scorpius Malfoy.”

 

Scorpius seemed a bit in awe of Bill and Fleur, but he still managed to politely shake their hands and greet them.

 

“Very nice to finally meet you, Scorpius,” Bill said, “I’ve heard nothing but nice things from my kids.”

 

“Likewise. Wait, what?” Scorpius muttered to himself in confusion when he realized his mistake. Bill laughed.

 

“It’s fine,” Bill said with a laugh.

 

“Hello,” Fleur said as she shook Scorpius’s hand.

 

Scorpius tried and failed to hide a squeal. “It’s very exciting to meet you! You’re Fleur Delacour! 1994 Beauxbatons’ Triwizard Champion! Putting a dragon in a sleeping trance was an absolutely brilliant decision!”

 

“Thank you very much,” Fleur said with a smile, “You are very sweet.”

 

Draco gave a cough that even Albus could interpret as ‘Scorpius, you’re coming off too strong’. Scorpius stepped away.

 

Draco turned to Albus’s parents. “Will someone be chaperoning the boys?” he asked.

 

Albus hadn’t been sure why they needed a chaperone.  He and Scorpius had learned their lesson. No more stupid, dangerous plans.  But apparently, Mr. Malfoy wanted at least a legal adult in the Wizarding World around in case there was a problem.  Harry agreed. Molly and Nic were going to the concert anyway and agreed to help out. Albus figured they would give him and Scorpius some sort of privacy, so he was fine with it.

 

Molly gladly stepped up with Dominique. “We are, Mr. Malfoy,” she said she offered her hand, “Molly Weasley-Wood, sir.” Draco shook her hand, then Dominique’s.

 

“Dominique Weasley. Bill and Fleur’s daughter. We promise to get Scorpius home at a reasonable hour.”

 

Draco took a moment to look over the two young witches. He looked concerned. But Albus knew their looks were deceiving. While Molly looked polished, she was tough. Tougher than even Rose. Nic looked fashionable with her long, strawberry blonde hair, short but flowy dusty blue peasant dress, knee-high boots, and loads of jewelry. Looking at her, it wasn’t obvious she had received high marks in DADA.

 

“Potter, are they trustworthy?” Draco asked.

 

“Absolutely,” Harry said, “I tried-“

 

“I was asking your wife,” Draco said with a smirk. Harry scowled.

 

Ginny rolled her eyes at her husband and Draco. “They are two of the smartest, toughest witches I know and I trust them completely,” she said, “And they were raised by my most sensible brothers, if that means anything to you.”

 

Mr. Malfoy didn’t look entirely convinced.

 

“And Lucy is performing tonight and she’s very clever,” Oliver said, “And responsible.”

 

“Mr. Malfoy, you have nothing to worry about,” Molly said, “Nic was Hogwarts’s dueling champion last year. My sister can think fast on her feet and is brilliant at Charms and Transfiguration. I’m basically a mama bear and have a mean right hook. All three of us were trained by some the best duelists Hogwarts has ever seen, should any problems arise.”

 

“And neither of us are Gryffindors,” Nic said with a smirk.

 

“All right, then,” Mr. Malfoy said with a sigh, “Just make sure he gets home by two and no alcohol.”

 

“Absolutely, sir,” Molly said. She looked at her watch. “We should probably start heading out if we want to eat beforehand.”

 

The adults and Lily shouted their goodbyes as the quartet headed for the door.  Molly, Nic, and Albus dug for their coats on the coat rack, buried beneath the assembled adults’ cloaks.  

 

Outside, the sky had yet to turn completely dark.  Only a light dusting of snow covered the ground. The electric lights in the Potters’ London neighborhood twinkled as they walked past.  

 

“Scorpius, how would you feel about eating at a Muggle restaurant for dinner?”  Nic asked. Albus had discussed dinner with his two cousins earlier that week and they agreed that it seemed like something Scorpius would enjoy.  

 

“I would love to!” Scorpius practically squealed.  The sad fact of the matter was that Scorpius rarely went out to eat period.  According to Scorpius, his mum tried to get them be more adventures food-wise, but after she passed, it hadn’t stuck.  Malfoy Manor was near a pretty small Muggle village that didn’t have much. Even if Mr. Malfoy seemed more comfortable about Muggles theoretically, he still didn’t seem the type that would find it easy to socialize with them.  He hadn’t taken Muggle Studies, so he hadn’t had much of a reference for most Muggle culture. Scorpius had once told Albus that his father wasn’t very good handling Muggle money. Whispers followed the Malfoy family everywhere they went in the Wizarding World post-war, so they rarely went out even in Wizarding areas.  Most of the Malfoys’ meals were prepared by house-elves.

 

Albus led the little troop up and over a few blocks to a cozy Japanese restaurant his family frequented (or at least him, his mum, and Lily).  It wasn’t busy. The hostess got them a booth as soon as they walked in the door. Molly and Nic sat on one side, Albus and Scorpius sat on the other.  After some light questioning, Albus, Molly, and Dominique gathered that Scorpius had never eaten Japanese food before. They each explained some things to him- how sushi was made, what was cooked and what wasn’t, the use of chopsticks, etc.- and Molly ended up suggesting that Scorpius should get a bento box to try a bit of everything. The cousins debated on what sushi rolls to get. Scorpius seemed way too excited about the possibility of getting a Coca-Cola.

 

If Albus had any concerns about his cousins joining his date, they were gone as they waited for their dinner.  Albus had no idea what he and Scorp should talk about. Being best friends was one thing, dating was different.  Scorpius seemed unsure too. Molly seemed to pick up on her cousin’s discomfort and asked about Scorpius’s holiday.  It got the ball rolling a bit. Scorpius talked about spending time with his mother’s side of the family during Christmas and added that his Aunt Daphne had actually bought him the peacoat as a present.  

 

Nic threw her two sickles in and said, “I think you look stylish.  Blue is a very nice color on you. Albus, don’t you agree?”

 

“Yeah,” Albus said softly, looking at Scorpius, “It, um, compliments your eyes.”  Out of the corner of his eye, Albus noticed Molly mouth something akin to ‘Good job’ and Nic winked.  Albus could feel his face heating up.

 

Scorpius was blushing too.  “Thank you. That green really is your color.  You have very pretty eyes,” he said.

 

“Thanks,” Albus said.

 

They looked at each other silently until Nic gave a loud cough, prompting Scorpius to ask, “Erm, how was your holiday?”  Molly, Nic, and Albus told Scorpius about the Weasley Christmas Dinner. Everyone had been forced to play charades. It was kids versus adults. The kids got way too much enjoyment out of making their parents act out stupid things. Albus was surprisingly good at guessing, especially for someone who didn’t want to play in the first place. The story made Scorpius laugh.

 

The food arriving saved Albus from struggling on where to take the conversation next.  After eating a couple pieces of California rolls, Albus noticed Scorpius staring at the chopsticks with confusion.  He watched as Scorpius awkwardly handled the chopsticks in his hand and trying to grab at one of his pieces of orange chicken. It was more like stabbing than anything else.

 

“You can use a fork, if you want,” Albus said, “Especially with the chicken.”

 

“No, I want to get this,” Scorpius asserted, “Well, at least for the sushi part.”

 

“Do you want help?” Albus asked.

 

Scorpius nodded.  Albus grabbed his own chopsticks to give an example.  

 

“Take one of the chopsticks- no the skinnier end goes the other way-”  Scorpius turned the chopstick around, “Yeah, ok. Hold it like you would hold a quill.  A bit looser than that. Ok. The other one kind of rests on your ring finger and is held by your thumb. And you move the one on top to grab.”

 

Scorpius tried to grab one of the sushi rolls on his plate and quickly fumbled.

 

“Let’s try again,” Albus said and grabbed Scorpius’s hand.

 

Both boys were blushing as Albus adjusted Scorpius’s grip. They laughed as Scorpius continued to struggle. After a few more tries, Scorpius got it. Albus didn’t want to let go of his hand, but he did.

 

Finally looking back at his cousins, Albus noticed their amused looks. He averted his eyes and grabbed his own piece of sushi.

 

Dinner was nice overall. The food was excellent. Nic and Molly kept their teasing to a minimum. When the check came, Molly grabbed it before anyone else could, slipped the necessary bills in, and handed to the waitress.

 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Albus argued. He felt weird about his cousins paying for everything, even if he didn’t have a bunch of money anyway. Maybe it was Slytherin pride getting to him.

 

“Calm down, Albie, my dads gave me money for dinner. Happy New Years,” Molly said with a smile that brooked no argument.

 

“Listen, I’m just glad that we don’t have to figure out how to split the check,” Nic said.

 

“Are you sure, Molly?” Scorpius asked with concern, “I don’t want to impose...”

 

“Of course, sweetie. I was given explicit instructions. Save your money for the pub. They have the _best_ butterbeer. Even better than Rosmerta’s,” Molly said.

 

Albus swore he heard Nic mutter something like “Boys” and give Molly an eye roll, but he elected to ignore it.

 

Once the waitress was back with Molly’s change, the four of them headed out to Diagon Alley. Molly and Nic walked a few steps ahead of Albus and Scorpius, gossiping about something or other. Scorpius and Albus talked about their individual holiday breaks. At one point on their walk, Scorpius took Albus’s hand under the guise of not being separated. Albus went along with Scorpius’s excuse.

 

The Phoenix’s Wing was on a side street off Diagon Alley. There was actually someone at the door checking tickets and IDs.  He was a large bloke whose jumper couldn’t hide his muscles. Albus figured he couldn’t be much older than Nic or the twins. Molly seemed to know him and chatted with him as she handed him their tickets.  Seeing Albus and Scorpius were under the legal drinking age, the bouncer requested they present their arms.  He muttered some charm and large ‘X’s appeared on their hands.

 

“Drink one sip of alcohol and your face will turn as blue as a blueberry.  It will wear off around 5 o’clock in the morning. Got it?” His voice was much more stern talking to them than it had been with Molly.

 

The boys nodded. Albus was intimidated enough to not argue that blueberries weren’t actually blue.

 

“Thanks Carter,” Molly said as she ushered Albus, Scorpius, and Nic inside.

 

Inside the pub, there were quite a few young witches and wizards milling about.  Albus recognized a few Hogwarts Alums- mainly friends of his cousins and his brother.  There were a few sixth and seventh years Albus recognized as well. One of the Ravenclaw prefects from Albus’s year saw him and Scorpius and waved.  They waved back to her. Her boyfriend gave them a nod.

 

Molly led them to a circular booth near the stage.  There was a large sign on it that said “RESERVED”.

 

“Here we are,” she said. Molly removed her coat and handed it to Dominique, who was gathering everyone’s coats to hang off the back of the booth.

 

“I’m going to get drinks before this place gets too busy. Anyone want anything?” Molly asked.

 

“Wine,” Nic said, “My usual.”

 

Molly nodded. “Boys?”

 

“I’ll have a butterbeer,” Albus said.

 

“Me too,” Scorpius said, “But let me help you out. I’ll pay for mine and Albus’s drinks.”

 

“Sure,” Molly said, “C’mon then.” She led Scorpius away from the booth.

 

After checking that Molly and Scorpius were far enough away, Dominique gave Albus a smug look. “That move you pulled at the restaurant was really clever,” she said, “Good job.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Albus said, avoiding her eyes.

 

“Picking a sushi place, knowing Scorpius doesn’t know how to use chopsticks? Using that as an excuse to touch his hand? I wasn’t born yesterday, Albus,” Nic said with a laugh.

 

“Was it really that obvious?” Albus asked with a wince.

 

“Well, I grew up around Vic and Teddy, so yeah. Though I don’t think Scorpius minded. I noticed he took your hand when you were walking.”

 

“Why did our parents have to demand a chaperone?” Albus groaned to himself in his hands.

 

“It’s New Years Eve and you two are the sons of the most famous, or well infamous in Malfoy’s case, wizards in the whole of Britain? And neither of you can use magic outside of school?”

 

“That was rhetorical.”

 

Dominique shrugged. “Molly and I will leave you two well enough alone, don’t worry. Not enough that we won’t be able to keep an eye on you, but still enough to give you privacy. As long as you two don’t sneak off to the loo together or a storage closet or something.” She winked at him.

 

“ _Stop_ ,” Albus groaned, blushing.

 

“But it’s so much fun to tease you,” Nic said.

 

Albus gave her an annoyed look.

 

“All right, all right. I’ll change the subject,” Nic sighed. She paused for a moment. “Do you want to know some hot family gossip?” she asked.

 

“I feel like you’re going to tell me no matter what,” Albus deadpanned.

 

“Trust me, it’s _really_ juicy,” Nic said, “So you know the guy working the door?”

 

Nic told Albus how the guy working the door- Davy Carter- was a Quidditch player that first played with Molly and then on Puddlemere’s reserve team. He was injured, so he was making spare money at the pub. Nic asserted that Carter was in love with Lucy and she with him, but they were keeping their relationship secret because Uncle Oliver would _flip_ if he found out. Well, that was she believed. She said that Molly believed that Lucy didn’t even know about Carter’s crush.

 

Molly confirmed this when she and Scorpius came back with their drinks. Although Albus didn’t really know the guy, he internally agreed with Molly. Lucy didn’t seem like the type to date a Quidditch player. But what did he know? While the cousins argued, Albus and Scorpius alternated between playing “Would You Rather” and coming up with stories about the other people in the pub.

 

Albus was in the middle of trying to decide whether he would rather help Lily try to free the Giant Squid from the lake without being caught or work at Weasley Wizard Wheezes for the summer and have James take half of his paycheck when a heavily tattooed young Wizard bounded on the stage and yelled into the microphone, “Happy New Years Eve, everybody!  Are you ready for the best up-and-coming band the Wizarding World has to offer?!”

 

The crowd shouted.  

 

“Oh, come on, you lot can do better than that!  Are you really ready? Because I don’t think you are!”

 

The crowd hooted and hollered.  Albus gave a loud whoop while Scorpius seemed to be buzzing with energy.  Albus knew this was his first concert. Or at least first concert that wasn’t the Hogwarts Frog Choir or Orchestra.

 

“These ladies are very near and dear to my heart.  Let’s give it up for Lady Lancelot!”

 

Lady Lancelot consisted entirely of women.  Of various heights, sizes, and styles, they were an eclectic mix. Somehow it worked. Surprisingly to Albus, Lucy wasn’t the lead singer.  The lead singer was a petite black girl with seemingly endless enthusiasm and she bounded to the microphone.  

 

“Phoenix Wing, how are you guys?!” she shouted as the rest of her band mates got into their positions.  “Are you ready to party?!”

 

As soon as everyone was in place, the drummer started the band off. Albus recognized the song as Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”.  While his two cousins leapt out of their booth and onto the makeshift dance floor, Albus was content to stay put. Scorpius looked admiredly at the crowd, but also looked concerned.  He clearly wasn’t ready to dance yet.

 

During an instrumental break, the lead singer spoke.  “I think we should take a moment and get to know each other a little better.  How does that sound?”

 

A lot of the crowd hollered back.

 

“Now for those of you who don’t know, my name is Liza and I’m the lead singer of this little group. And if you’re good, I’ll play a little bit of the flute.”

 

There were cheers and someone yelling, “We love you Liza!”

 

She walked over to Lucy.  “On the keys and plenty of strings, it’s my sister from two other misters. Everybody give it up for Lucy!”

 

Albus cheered loudly for his cousin as she played a solo on her piano.  Scorpius gave a little whoop.

 

After Lucy’s introduction, Liza introduced the rest of the band: Leya on drums, Leonore on guitar, and Lynette on bass.  They each played a solo before continuing on with the song.

 

Albus hoped Lucy’s band would be good, but he had not expected how good they actually were.   Although they weren’t what he traditionally listened to, he still had an excellent time. Lady Lancelot’s set list was a mix of older Muggle pop and rock music, revamped Wizarding favorites, and their own music. All of them were great performers and had opportunities to shine. Liza even busted out the flute a few times. Later, Albus found out that Liza wasn’t joking about being Lucy’s sister, being the older daughter of Audrey and her wife Felicity.

 

About halfway through the night, Albus decided fuck-it and asked Scorpius to dance. Scorpius gladly pulled him out of the booth and to the dance floor. Neither of them was very good at it, but neither of them really cared. They laughed as they jumped around.

 

Close to midnight, Albus and Scorpius were back in their booth, slightly out of breath. They drank butterbeer and shared the candy Scorpius brought. Molly and Nic were still out in the crowd, hanging out with some of their friends, but Albus could see their eyes on him and Scorpius. The pub was in a celebratory mood.

 

After the band finished their song, Lucy cast a spell, revealing a countdown clock.

 

“All right, party people, you’ve got a minute to find someone to kiss before midnight. If you want to, that is,” Liza said.

 

Albus glanced at Scorpius, who looked about as nervous as he felt. Further out, he could see Molly give him two thumbs up and a smile while Nic mimed kissing and mouthed the words ‘Do it!’ while pointing at Scorpius.

 

“Do you, um, want to kiss?” Albus asked quietly.

 

The only sound that left Scorpius’s mouth was a little squeak, but he nodded.

 

Albus scooted closer to Scorpius so they were touching. Butterflies were storming in his stomach. He reminded himself that Scorpius wanted this too.

 

As the final countdown hit, Albus felt Scorpius touch his hand. Albus looked up. Scorpius beamed at him. Turning his body to face Scorpius, Albus took his free hand and placed it on Scorpius’s cheek.

 

Scorpius leaned down and pressed his lips to Albus’s. Their noses awkwardly bumped into each other on the way, but their lips still touched.

 

Once they separated, Albus could hear the countdown of, “Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”

 

“I was too early, wasn’t I?” Scorpius laughed, embarrassed. Albus laughed too. Of course they would mess up the countdown.

 

“You can kiss me again, you know,” Albus said cheekily.

 

Scorpius did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> How was that? I know there was less Percy here, but I wanted to explore Albus's relationships with some of his cousins. Also, first time writing Scorpius! 
> 
> I think there's just one more chapter left...
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


	7. Champagne and Wedding Cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. I appreciate all the responses I've gotten for this story and I hope you all like this chapter!
> 
> As always, I don't own any of these characters or this world. This also hasn't been beta'd or Brit-picked so all mistakes are my own.

Percy told himself he wasn’t going to cry until they reached the actual ceremony, but considering it was his daughter’s wedding he figured he’d get a pass.  Oliver certainly had no qualms on this issue. He started tearing up as soon as he saw Lucy in her gown. She looked like an angel. Dominique had delicately embroidered golden stars and moons on the tulle over layer of the gown.  The under layer was a light gold silk. A crown made of golden stars and white pearls sat on Lucy’s fiery red curls.

 

“Oh, Dad, Pops, don’t cry!” Lucy gushed taking one hand from each of her fathers, “Mols has already cried and I couldn’t handle it then.  I certainly can’t handle it now! I’ll fog up my glasses! This is a happy day, remember?”

 

“I know, sweetheart.  You just look so beautiful,” Oliver said.

 

“You cried on my wedding day, remember?” Molly said to Lucy while offering her sister and her fathers handkerchiefs. “I get to on yours.”

 

Molly’s wedding had been a rough day for Percy and Oliver.  They were immensely happy she found Mara when visiting Charlie in New Zealand.  Charlie was more than happy to introduce his beloved niece to one of his clever assistants. Mara was a lovely young American witch with a sharp wit and endless enthusiasm. Molly looked stunning in a simple gown on the Hawaiian beach, so clearly in love.  It was just the realization that their daughters were all grown up hit the hardest. Chasing them around the house just after they learned to walk felt like yesterday to Percy.  Now, Lucy was twenty-seven, about to get married. Molly had married the year before.

 

“You look lovely, Molly,” Percy said.  The blue in her dress made her blue eyes really stand out.  “Both of you look so beautiful, it’s making me cry. I am so proud of both of you and the intelligent, kind-hearted women you have become.”

 

“Thank you, Dad,” Molly said as she gave his free hand a squeeze.  “Though speaking of crying, I really want to see Davy cry when he sees Luce.”

 

Lucy, Percy, and Oliver chuckled.

 

“Well, you’ll get your wish soon,” Percy said, straightening up, “We need to get in our places for the ceremony.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was a beautiful wedding.

 

Well, it was Lucy’s wedding, so of course it was beautiful. Albus figured that of all his cousins, Lucy had the third best eye for design (Louis being the first, Nic being second). It was different from the rest of the Weasley cousins’ weddings. Vic and Teddy’s wedding was beachy and hip at Shell Cottage. There had been kegs of butterbeer and fire whiskey and fireworks on the beach. Molly had convinced the entire family to go to Hawaii for her wedding to a Hawaiian witch named Mara. Well, it wasn’t that hard to convince them. It was Hawaii after all. The wedding had been simple and sophisticated with plenty of flowers and lush greenery. Freddy’s wedding had been a literal surprise. He had gotten everyone together under the guise of celebrating his birthday. The fact that it was two weeks after the fact should have been clue one something was up. Clue two was that he rented out an entire pub in Diagon Alley. Clue three is that he had been adamant that everyone arrive by a certain time and _the entire family had to be there_. Seeing Uncle Charlie in London months before Christmas had been the kicker for Albus. Despite the pub’s party atmosphere and the casual ceremony, Freddy had cried as soon as he saw Leya coming down the makeshift aisle. Despite it happening six months ago, everyone still enjoyed making a joke of the whole thing. (“Are you having a surprise baby shower next?, “Let’s get some drinks at the pub.” “Are you getting married there?”)

 

Lucy’s wedding was happening in an old Wizarding manor house in Northern England, where Davy was from.  Albus thought he overheard it belonged to an elderly, spinster great-aunt of Davy’s, but he wasn’t sure.  The house was decked in various colors of blue and yellow. There was pale sky blue, bright royal blue, navy, pastel yellow, medium yellow, and gold.  The furniture was mismatched. It could have easily looked chaotic, but it worked somehow. It was very Lucy. Albus assumed at least one of Lucy’s dads had to be talked into this design, if not both.  

 

“She does realize those are Puddlemere colors, right?” James had asked.

 

“It’s like her father and her fiancé play for Puddlemere or something,” Albus said sarcastically.

 

“Also, they’re Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff colors.  Davy was in Hufflepuff, remember?” Rose pointed out.

 

Louis noted, “It’s very _Starry Night_.”

 

“I like it!  It’s whimsical,” Scorpius said.

 

Three members of Lady Lancelot- Leya, Leonore, and Lynette- played music while everyone waited for the ceremony to begin.  There weren’t too many guests, mainly just family and friends. There were some current and former members of Puddlemere there too. Albus figured the number was probably around 100 at most.

 

Everything quieted down when Davy Carter, looking extremely nervous, came up to the altar. Albus had gotten to know Davy better in the almost seven and a half years since he was checking IDs at Lucy’s concert.  Molly had been right in the fact that Lucy didn’t know about Davy’s crush then. Lucy and Davy didn’t start dating until three years after that event. She had apparently gone to some sort of Puddlemere end of season banquet with her dads and sister.  Not knowing most people there, she decided to talk to her old school friend, Davy Carter. They really hit it off that time. Lucy asked him to a lunch date and the rest was history. Albus liked Davy. He was a quiet bloke, but was very protective.  Albus would talk to him about old Muggle music. He once even helped Albus and Scorpius move apartments. Overall, he was a cool dude.

 

The wedding party was in good spirits. Liza and Davy’s cousin were the most calm, but they still smiled. Dominique and Freddy were clearly amused by something and tried to keep their giggles down as they walked. Maybe it had to do with the fact that behind them, Davy’s much shorter half-brother Adam was escorting Molly down the aisle. Some of the Weasleys sitting next to Albus were also amused by that fact. It probably would have been less funny if Adam wasn’t so clearly uncomfortable by it. Teddy and Victoire’s five year-old daughter Ursula gleefully flung star-shaped confetti down the aisle. She had turned her naturally strawberry blonde hair bright blue.

 

Several people- including Scorpius- gasped when Lucy began to walk down the aisle. She looked almost ethereal. Albus noticed both of his uncles were holding back tears as they escorted Lucy down the aisle. At the end, she hugged both of them before standing next to her sister. Davy looked in awe of her.

 

At Scorpius’s first sniff, Albus silently took his boyfriend’s hand and give it a squeeze. Looking over, Scorpius mouthed “Thank you” and Albus smiled. Scorpius always cried at weddings. It was very sweet.

 

“Merlin, can you imagine how tall their children are going to be?” James whispered during the ceremony.

 

“ _Shut up_ ,” Lily hissed.

 

In fairness, Albus didn’t think his brother was wrong. Lucy and Molly were mere inches shorter than their fathers. Davy was on eye-level with Uncle Percy. It just wasn’t the most appropriate thing to whisper if the glare from their mother was anything to go by.

 

During the vows, Scorpius leaned his head on Albus’s shoulder and sighed in happiness. Albus put his arm around his boyfriend.

 

“I love that they wrote their own vows,” Scorpius whispered, “Can we do that?”

 

Albus stomach fluttered. A sense of warmth filled him. They discussed marriage before, but they weren’t engaged. Yet, anyway. “Yeah, whatever you want,” Albus whispered back. He was smiling. Scorpius smiled back.

 

Once Lucy and Davy kissed, the assembled guests rose to their feet and cheered, many while fighting back tears. Many let sparks out of their wands as the happy couple walked past.

 

As the wedding party gathered for photos, the rest of the guests headed to the ballroom for the reception. Albus and Scorpius lagged behind as they talked. They were still holding hands.

 

“That was absolutely lovely,” Scorpius sighed.

 

“Did you see Davy when Lucy walked out? I swear I saw him mutter ‘Holy shit’,” Albus said.

 

“You did not!” Scorpius argued.

 

Albus laughed. “I swear I did. Or maybe his thoughts were just shouting out.”

 

“Are you a Legilimens now?” Scorpius teased.

 

“Mhmm,” Albus responded with a slow grin.

 

“So what am I thinking?”

 

Albus looked into his boyfriend’s gray eyes. He seemed amused by their flirtation.

 

“You want to kiss me,” Albus said.

 

“Maybe you are a Legilimens,” Scorpius said. He leaned down and kissed Albus longingly.

 

“Oi! Get a room you two!” Rose yelled at them jokingly as she passed.

 

Albus and Scorpius separated. Albus rolled his eyes. “You’re just jealous,” he teased. He knew Rose’s girlfriend was around somewhere.

 

Rose just stuck her tongue out at her cousin. Albus and Scorpius shared a laugh as they walked to the ballroom.

 

Like the grand hall, the ballroom consisted of mismatched chairs and colorful decorations.  The ceiling was charmed to show the night sky, much like Hogwarts’ Great Hall. A stage had been set up at the end of the ballroom.  Some instruments had been charmed to play music.

 

As guests mingled about the room, Albus heard his name being called.  He and Scorpius weaved through the large group of Puddlemere players to get to where his mum was waving at him.  His mum was standing with his dad, his grandparents, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Hermione.

 

They walked into Grandma Molly talking, “- Didn’t Ursula look so precious?  She looks so much like her mum did at her age.”

 

“I think there’s something very Teddy about her though,” Harry noted.

 

“Absolutely,” Albus agreed, “She changes her hair color every five minutes when we watch her.  But her favorite seems to be pink at the moment. Like bubblegum pink.”

 

Albus noted that most of the adults looked surprised at that.  He made a mental note to ask about it later. But a thought came to him: _Wait- Teddy’s mum had pink hair.  Didn’t she?_

 

Sensing everyone’s shock, Ginny deftly decided to change the subject.  “I liked that Luce decided to buck tradition and not wear white. That dress was stunning.”

 

“I think the dress would have looked just as pretty in white,” Grandma Molly said, “But, yes, it was beautiful.”

 

“Mum, she has Perce’s coloring.  It’s probably best she went with gold.  It would have been white white white, bright red hair,” Ron said with matching hand movements.  Ginny smacked him. “What was that for?! I wasn’t making fun of her!  She’s a very pretty girl. It just would be a lot of white! I don’t wear white for similar reasons.”

 

“I thought it was because it stains easily,” Harry quipped.  Albus laughed.

 

“Hey!”

 

While Ron and Harry started to squabble, Hermione turned to Albus and Scorpius.  “How’s your research going, Scorpius?” Scorpius was working on what he called ‘A definitive history of Merlin’.

 

Scorpius lit up.  “Good! Good. Though I’ve been waiting to see original medieval Muggle documents on Merlin to see what they believe about him and how that matches with the Wizarding record of him, but I’ve hit a bit of a snag.  I need Muggle documentation to access some of them. Like proof of working on a doctorate? Some other things as well.”

 

“I’m sure the Minister can whip something up and fast track the process for you,” Hermione said with a smile, “I’d love to read your book once you’ve finished.”

 

“First copy.  Promise,” Scorpius said.

 

“I look forward to it,” Hermione said, “I should probably separate them, shouldn’t I?”  Uncle Ron was starting to puff up in annoyance from his sister and brother-in-law’s teasing.

 

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Albus said.

 

“Enjoy your evening, gentlemen,” Hermione said before she led Ron away with the excuse that dinner _surely must be starting soon_ and that they should take their seats.

 

Albus and Scorpius had been put at a table with Molly’s wife Mara, Louis, Roxy, Teddy, Victoire, Ursula, Uncle George, and Aunt Angelina.  Louis and Roxy had both opted to go stag and were relieved to be seated together.

 

“You know, looking around, I’m a bit surprised that this appears to be the only real all-Weasley table,” George said as their dinner was charmed on their plates.

 

“Scorp isn’t a Weasley,” Albus pointed out.

 

“ _Yet_ ,” Roxy sing-songed.  

 

“Please, he’s been an unofficial Weasley for years,” Angelina said.

 

Both Albus and Scorpius blushed. Albus decided to change the subject. “Vic, Teddy, have you come up with any names for the baby yet?” Albus asked.

 

“We’ve talked about it a little, but we figure we have four months still to go to decide anything,” Vic said.

 

“Are you excited to be a big sister, Ursula?” Mara asked.

 

Ursula began excitedly talking about her plans for her little sister or brother. As the rest of the table goaded her on, Albus was just relieved that the topic shifted from him and Scorpius getting married as Albus was about to burst.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Percy was exhausted. It was a good exhaustion though. The day had been undoubtedly long, but nothing bad had happened. Once dancing started, Percy had been shuffled between his husband, daughters, daughter-in-law, sister, mum, and various other friends and family members. His was content to people watch and rest for a few moments.

 

“Cake?” a voice asked to his left. Percy looked up to find his nephew Albus levitating two plates of cake and two glasses of champagne.

 

“Thank you. Please sit,” Percy said, patting the chair next to him. “Where’s Scorpius?” Usually wherever Albus went at family functions, Scorpius wasn’t too far behind or vice versa.

 

“Lucy asked him to dance,” Albus said before biting into his piece of cake.

 

Percy looked up to see Scorpius laughing with Lucy on the dance floor as Scorpius twirled her around.

 

“Where’s Uncle Oliver?” Albus asked.

 

Percy looked around. He located Oliver rather quickly. “Dancing with your mum,” he said gesturing over to them.

 

Albus and Percy laughed as they watched Ginny dip Oliver, who almost fell.

 

“So. What’s it like to have two married daughters?” Albus asked.

 

Percy sighed. “It’s odd at times when I think about it,” he said, “It only seemed like it was yesterday when Oliver and I were dropping them at the Hogwarts Express the first time. But I also look at it as I’m not losing two daughters. I’ve gained a daughter and a son.”

 

“That’s a good way to look at things,” Albus said.

 

“I try my best. Have a good time today?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Albus said, “I was worried for Lucy’s sake that the family wouldn’t be on their best behavior, but nothing crazy has happened so far. It was a beautiful ceremony. Scorp has been very lovey-dovey today. We danced a bit. I also danced with Rose and Lucy and Nic and Mols. And Ursula. I promised her a dance the last time I watched her. I know I’m not much of a dancer, but it was fun.”

 

“You’re really good with kids, Albus. Have you considered taking over for Professor Sinistra when she retires?”

 

Albus looked away, bashfully. “Oh, I don’t know... I still have so much to learn besides.”

 

“Did you know Davy is going to be taking over for Hooch?” Percy asked.

 

“ _Really_?   I’m not sure who’s retirement I’m more surprised by: Davy’s or Hooch’s,” Albus said.

 

“Well, Davy’s still going to do this next season, but he figured that 10 years as a professional Quidditch player is enough for him. Bludgers hurt, you know. Besides, he’s never been comfortable with the celebrity side of things.”

 

“Yet he married Lucy? Lady Lancelot is pretty big. Not Weird Sisters big, but still has a decent fan base.”

 

“Lucy doesn’t like the celebrity thing either. She just likes to play music. And I think reporters stopped following her around once they realized she leads a fairly boring life.”

 

“That’s fair,” Albus conceded. “But I honestly thought Hooch would pull a Binns and teach as a ghost.”

 

“I think the whole handling Quidditch supplies thing kind of prevents that,” Percy said with a smile, “But it will be a process. Davy’ll do this next season, then train under Hooch for a year, and then take over the post. I’ve known him for years and I think this was always the plan for him.”

 

“Scorpius’s dream is to take over for Binns. But that’s downright impossible unless Binns gets sacked somehow. Scorpius is very cross about it.”

 

Percy laughed. Albus did too. “How are things between you two, by the way?” Percy asked once his laughter died down.

 

Albus smiled softly. “Great,” he said, “I’ve been trying to teach Scorp to cook the Muggle way and he’s managed to burn _water_ of all things, but we’re getting there. He can at least make sandwiches, so at least we won’t starve if I break both my hands or something.”

 

“That’s nice. I’m glad you’re happy.”

 

Albus shuffled around. “Can I tell you a secret?” Albus asked.

 

“Of course,” Percy said. He wasn’t exactly sure where this was going. He had his ideas, of course, but Albus could be unpredictable.

 

Albus looked around to see if anyone was listening, then leaned in closer to Percy and whispered, “I’m, um, going to ask Scorpius to marry me soon.”

 

Percy raised his eyebrows, but he still smiled. “Congratulations,” he said.

 

“I haven’t asked yet. And he hasn’t said yes yet,” Albus said.

 

“But you’ve discussed it before, right? I’m pretty sure I’ve overheard you two talk about marriage. And if you haven’t, I am highly advocating that you discuss it. Couples should be on the same page about these things. A proposal shouldn’t be a total surprise.”

 

“Oh, we’ve talked about it. On the same page and everything,” Albus confirmed.

 

“Good,” Percy said, taking a sip from his glass of champagne.

 

“I’m just not sure how to ask,” Albus said.

 

“You’ll figure it out,” Percy said, “I have faith in you. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big thing.”

 

“How did you and Oliver get engaged?” Albus asked, “I don’t think you ever told me.”

 

“It was a half a year after the end of the War,” Percy started, “We had discussed it before, before the Battle of Hogwarts even. But we always had that fear of what would happen the next day and the day after that. And then everything, well, happened so that conversation had to be put on hold for a moment. One night, we decided to finally revive that conversation in our flat during dinner- to see if our feelings had changed. And they hadn’t. In fact, we were so much surer that we wanted to get married. Oliver- no ring, no plan, I’m pretty sure it was a sudden impulse- knelt in front of me and asked if we could start saying we’re engaged. And I said yes. At that point, a proposal just seemed so frivolous? We knew we wanted to get married and start a family and that was that.”

 

“You two never fail on being forthright, don’t you?” Albus chuckled.

 

“Just with each other. It makes things easier for us. Call it Gryffindor nature, I suppose.” Percy chuckled.

 

“Maybe I won’t go that route, but I’ll think about it.” Albus was silent for a moment, then let out a shaky breath he seemed to have been holding in. “It was good to finally talk about it.”

 

“Well, I’m honored that you told me,” Percy said, “And I’m always around to help.”

 

“I know,” Albus said, “Thank you. You’ve helped me a lot over the years. I know I don’t say it enough, but I really do appreciate it.”

 

“You’re welcome. And I’m very proud of you, I hope you know that,” Percy said, patting Albus’s shoulder. _And there went the tears again_. Albus had come a long way since being the scared, awkward teenager having a stilted conversation in his uncles’ kitchen. Now, he was a brilliant, confident young wizard who had the whole world in front of him.

 

Albus lifted up his champagne glass. “A toast?” he asked.

 

“All right. What to?” Percy said, picking up his own glass.

 

“To good advice?”

 

“To good advice it is.”

 

_Clink._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has certainly been an interesting journey for me. I've never written a fan fic this long before, even though I've always wanted to write a multi-chapter fic. I'm just glad that I've been able to finish it! 
> 
> I hope you all like where this story ended up! I rewrote this beginning of the chapter a few times, but I think this version is my favorite.
> 
> As always, I appreciate your responses to this story, kudos and comments!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading my little story!

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of Percy's views about his relationship with his father have been influenced by conversations and character studies on Tumblr.
> 
> I also want to acknowledge that in hindsight, a lot of parents in the Harry Potter universe are not perfect and that's OK. I don't think that Harry in Cursed Child or Arthur Weasley in OotP intended to hurt their children's feelings or are bad parents. I think trauma and gender roles have caused a lot of these problems. Communication is very important!
> 
> This will be as angsty as this gets, I promise.
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated!


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